Rabbi's Column - February 2017

Dear Friends,

I do not know what "went into the water" this February, but we have an extraordinary - and wonderful "problem" of having a year’s worth of wonderful events that are all taking place in the span of one

February week. We have fully FOUR all-congregational events between February 5th and February 12th. Each event is announced in the pages of this Shofar, but I want to take the opportunity to highlight each one of them for you so you can take full advantage.

We begin on Sunday, February 5th, with an opportunity to interact with one of the hottest items in New York City today. Due to the fortunate coincidence of having an ‘in’ via temple member Rosemary Baggish, we have been able to arrange to have Liz Alpern appear here at TBT. Liz is the renowned author of The Gefilte Manifesto, which is a cookbook dedicated to taking old world Jewish foods and making them into contemporary dishes. The event will come with mimosas and samplings of recipes that will be cooked by TBT members. A fantastic way to spend a Sunday morning!

"Phone call for you," the office said, and I picked up the phone. On the other end of the line was Judy Diamondstein, the Executive Director of Federation, asking if TBT would like to host JJ Goldberg and Jonathan Tobin for a special event. "Are you kidding me?!?!?!" I asked incredulously. JJ Goldberg and Jonathan Tobin are two of the brightest thinkers around when it comes to parsing the thorny issue of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. JJ Goldberg is the editor-at-large of Forward, and Jonathan Tobin is an editor and chief political blogger of Commentary Magazine. Getting both of them in the same room at the same time??? They have opposing viewpoints??? How fascinating and refreshing to hear them engage together. Yes! We will host them, on Thursday evening, February 9th.

I am already out of breath, but Friday evening, February 10th is Shabbat Shirah, and how could we not come together to celebrate a most breathtaking musical evening? Cantor Margolius and Cantor Dorothy Goldberg are hard at work planning a fantastic evening which will include guest musicians - and the premier of a piece created by Dorothy. If that wasn’t enough: we will also take the opportunity to celebrate the return of our Sephardic Torah Scroll to our sanctuary after months of repair work that was done by our visiting Soferet last Spring. The Scroll was first given to TBT by Sam & Mary Blank, of beloved memory, and now it will live again as we rededicate it on this evening.

One last spectacular event: our entire greater New Haven Jewish community is coming together on Sunday, February 12th, to honor the 6th yarzheit of singer/songwriter Debbie Friedman. We will convene at the central location of the Towers in New Haven, and the concert will be in absolute Debbie fashion. Debbie was never satisfied with performing and hearing her own voice alone. A concert wasn’t a success until she got everyone in the room singing. And that is just what we will do on February 12th.

So please: Food, Israel, Shabbat, and Song. It is going to be a packed month of very special moments. What a February.

L'Shalom
Rabbi Offner

Rabbi's Column - January 2017

Dear Friends,
The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King’s words continue to instruct:
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

It is our job to focus on the light and love; our job to create light and to reach out in love. That is why I am thrilled to participate in a Hartmann Institute conference on Martin Luther King Day on "Jews and Muslims in America Today: Political Challenges and Moral Opportunitiees." Notable speakers include Representative Keith Ellison from Minnesota, the first elected Muslim to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives, and Jeffrey Goldberg, the Editor-in-Chief of the Atlantic. It is much easier to talk about the needed friendship between Jews and Muslims than it is to engage. Engage we will as we religious leaders seize the opportunity to sit in a room filled with Jews and Muslims, to focus on the moral obligations and political challenges that face our communities today.

The month of January also means a new president for our country. Donald Trump will become President Trump on January 20th. I wish him every success. May he have the wisdom and the courage to lead and guide our country in a way that improves the lives of us all, most notable the poor and disenfranchised; may he usher in an era that strengthens our country and the entire world.

The day after the inauguration I will be in Washington, D.C., participating in the Women’s March on Washington. Nancy and I will be there together to encourage our President and all our governmental leaders to champion women’s values, values that coincide with Reform Jewish values: equal rights, equal pay, and equal dignity, equal access to quality health care, including the right to make that most critical of personal health decisions regarding abortion.

As we venture into this new era of American life, we are guided once again by the words of Dr. Martin Luther King:

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

I implore each of us to stand always on the side of justice and of truth.

L'Shalom
Rabbi Stacy K. Offner

Rabbi's Column - December 2016

Dear Friends,

Chanukah is a wondrous holiday in its simplicity. We light candles and gaze upon the light. We add one more candle each day, increasing the light, the beauty, and the joy. While those candles are burning low we need to pause for a moment to remember why it is we light those candles. Some 2,000 years ago a King reigned in Syria who took control of the land of Israel. He insisted that the Jewish people observe the Greco-Syrian customs of the day. He denied us the right to practice our own religion. He went even further and made sure that our holiest space in the world would be desecrated. Pigs were sacrificed on the altar in an effort to destroy not only the Temple, but the spirit of the Jews.

Instead, it did just the opposite. It enflamed the Jews. It returned us to our core. The Maccabean

rebellion went on for three years, after which time they returned to the Temple, cleaned and refurbished it, and rededicated it to Jewish life.

It is for this act of rededication that the holiday of Chanukah was named. "Chanukah" means "to dedicate."

Rededicating Jewish holy space is what we will be focusing on this year at TBT. We hope to have our own "Springtime Chanukah" when we rededicate our own Temple on our 40th Anniversary in May.

Looking forward to celebrating Chanukah with you and reflecting on the dedication of the Jewish people and the rededication of TBT.

L'Shalom,
Rabbi Stacy K. Offner

Rabbi's Column - November 2016

As I write this column for November, I am still awash in the majesty and imagery of our High Holy Days. I can’t quite let go of them just yet, so permit me to begin this column with a THANK YOU to all of you who came with open hearts and open minds and ready souls. The intensity of sitting in shul for just about 24 non-stop hours is boggling. The words, the prayers, the readings, the presence of community all around, each do their part in making us truly reflect upon our lives. I hope that you were inspired to incorporate some of the important messages into your own life.

Being in synagogue all day with nothing else to do and no interruptions is actually quite a luxury - more than ever, in these days of non-stop beeps and texts and schedules. Of course this was a luxury created by so many people here at TBT that made our Holy Days possible. I must take a moment to praise our staff. We are truly ‘teammates.’ A big round of applause goes to our Administrator, Kim Romine and our Office/Clergy Assistant,

Bonnie Mahon, both of whom worked non-stop to make sure we were ready for the holidays.

Our volunteers were incredible. Thank you to Lisa Leventhal for all you did to make sure we had a wealth of participants involved in the service. Thank you to Doug Agranov and all our Ushers. Thank you to Shaun Glazier for the most spectacular floral arrangements. Thank you to our medical team: Dan Jacoby, Dan Greif, Lynda Rosenfeld, and John Foggle for allowing us to rest easy knowing you were on call for us. Thank you the entire Board of Directors for being wonderful Greeters.

Thank you to Sam Rader for an incredibly inspiring sermonette, inviting all of us to go through the portals of holiness. Jason Gaines led a fabulous study session on Cain & Abel. His reputation is growing as the library was full to overflowing. All our Torah and

Haftarah readers prepared and chanted with loving care.

Our Children’s Programming was better than ever - thanks to Kate Rothstein, Suzy Frisch, and our magnificent Salty BBYO youth group, led so wonderfully by our Salty Advisor, Stephanie Condoluci. Thank you to Judy Merriam for hosting our Tashlich Service and opening up the power and beauty of the shoreline waters for us to ritually cast away our sins, led ably by Cantor Margolius.

To Ted Langevin and the Parking Lot Crew - you are the first welcome as we enter, and welcome us you do! Thank you, thank you. Len and Dyanna are such a blessing - they are more than ‘custodians;’ they are a part of our TBT family. Bennett Paul and the Break-the-Fast crew provide a spread worthy of the wait until that last blast on the Shofar - thank you Eli Sherer and Jen Silva.

Cantor Margolius, now in his fourth year here at TBT, only gets better and better and better. He is truly an expert in Jewish liturgical text, and he combines that with a beautiful voice and a caring spirit. And the choir! Just breathtaking. With Walter Stutzman on the piano, and sometimes Stu Weinzimer, who also doubles as our fearless president, life is good.

How blessed we are! And now we look onward to November: our Scholar-in-Residence Weekend 11/12/13, our Interfaith Thanksgiving Program with all the community churches and our synagogue, and so much more. Peruse your Shofar, see for yourself, and come and join us.

L’Shalom,
Rabbi Stacy K. Offner

Rabbi's Column - October 2016

October 1, 2016

Dear Friends,

Finally! The New Year is upon us. If it seems like forever since last New Year...this time...You are right. Yes, technically they fall at the same time every year, but this last year was a leap year and we inserted an entire extra month into the year. So it has been 13 months rather than 12.

Did you know that the Jewish calendar is the only calendar in the world that is both solar and lunar? The Christian calendar is solar and the Muslim calendar is lunar. The Jewish calendar revolves around the cycles of the moon, but we do make seasonal corrections according to the sun - assuring us that while Rosh HaShanah can come as early as the beginning of September or as late, like this year, as October - you can rest assured that our New Year will always be a Fall holiday.

There is so much to consider this Fall as we turn from the Jewish year of 5776 to 5777. Our music will be transportive; we are so grateful for Cantor Margolius and all he does with his heart, his soul, and his vocal cords.

The sounds of the shofar, the sounds of the choir, the sounds of your chairs shuffling on the floor, all bring a tinge of excitement to the crisp Autumn air.

I am delighted to share these sermons with you:
Erev Rosh HaShanah: "Commanded to Hope"
Rosh HaShanah Morning: "The Art of Civility"
Kol Nidre: "The Sin of Certainty"
Yom Kippur Morning: "Opening Doors"

Our holidays would not be possible without the extraordinary behind-the-scenes work of our
Administrator, Kim Romine and our Administrative Assistant, Bonnie Mahon. They help to make this new year sweet.

L’Shana Tova Tikateivu,

May you and your loved ones be written in the Book of Life for good health, much happiness, and a good year ahead,

Rabbi Stacy K. Offner