President's Column - October 2023

Hi Friends,

What a magnificent High Holy Day season we just experienced together. As many of you know, I broke my wrist right before Kol Nidre so I am currently typing with my left hand. I will therefore cheat and share with you an abridged version of my president's address from Rosh Hashanah.

This season of reflection and renewal calls us to explore the essence of our faith and our values. So, I will take this opportunity to ask you about our synagogue’s values. Here is my question. If you had to pick one thing that our temple should provide, what would it be?

For me, it is connections. Connections to each other, connections to our creator, connections to our heritage. The Hebrew word for connections is Kesher.

In a world where technology is dominating more and more of our lives, I often wonder if this brings us closer together or further apart. Did you know that Snap Chat has a new feature called a virtual friend. You can ask it questions about trivia, it can offer you advice and can help plan what to make for dinner. It gets to know you over time and changes its responses based on your likes and dislikes. That’s kind of cool? Maybe kind of scary? My perspective, as a pediatrician, is that despite how technologically linked we are, teenagers are more lonely, more anxious, and more depressed than ever. I don’t believe that the answer is more medicines or more therapy (although these often do help). I think the answer is more KESHER.

In this ever-changing world, it is our connections that provide us with stability and meaning. They remind us that we are not alone on this journey, and they give us the strength to face whatever challenges lie ahead. This is what our children need, and this is what WE need.

We at TBT want to help forge these connections, so this year, we are forming small interest groups that will meet monthly. We are calling this new program, you guessed it, Kesher. There are so many other ways to experience connections at TBT. Come to a Shabbat service and then stay to shmooze at the oneg. Come inside when you drop your children at religious school and join us for T’filah. Help our wider community through our social justice committee.

Come join Kol Ami on our hikes, movie discussions, wine tasting, or the book club. Join Haverim for whatever it is they do. Come meditate Saturday morning, and then you can be nice and relaxed for Torah Study.

So please take a moment during these High Holy Days, to reflect on one thing that you can do to deepen your connections to each other, to Temple Beth Tikvah, and to our broader Jewish community.

Our synagogue stands as a testament to these enduring connections. Over the last three years we have adapted, learned to pivot, and we have remained flexible and strong. Our commitment to our values, and to our community, has never wavered. We are here in our new sanctuary because so many of you share this love for TBT and realize the importance of supporting our Jewish community on the shoreline. We are here, more specifically, because we were able to raise over $7 million through your donations. So, I would like to say a sincere and heartfelt Todah Rabbah. However, our work is not done.

During Selichot we heard Rabbi Offner ask for forgiveness for the delays in this building project. On Rosh Hashanah, it was my turn to ask for forgiveness. Many factors contributed to making this project more expensive than anticipated 4 years ago. We now have a bank loan that accrues interest every day. It is my goal to pay it back fully over the next two-three years. I am asking you all to help us meet this goal. If you are able, please contact me about an additional donation, or a first-time donation, to our ongoing capital campaign. As Theodore Herzl said, “if you will it, it is no dream.”

My dream for all of us at this High Holy Day season is to achieve deep reflection, sincere repentance, and profound connection. May the bonds that unite us as a congregation grow even stronger and may the connections we form today continue to guide us on our spiritual journey in the days, weeks, and years to come. Shana Tova.

Karen Goldberg, President

President's Column - September 2023

Dear TBT friends,

This is a time of great transition for me and my family, as well as for all of us as a TBT congregational family.

My youngest child just left for college, and as the saying goes, we now have an “empty nest.” It is a challenging transition. Phil and I certainly feel great loss when we return each night to a clean, quiet, and calm (boring) home. However, it is intensely rewarding to see my three children pursuing their dreams, and to know that the foundation we helped them create has contributed to their sense of purpose.

This reflection is similar to how I feel about our High Holy Days this year. The sacrifice and the work we put into creating our sacred space while continuing to build community, is finally coming to fruition. This year, we are blessed to celebrate the High Holy Days in our synagogue after three long years of exile.

First and foremost, I want to express my sincere gratitude for the incredible sense of unity and resilience that our TBT community has displayed throughout the last three years. Despite many challenges, your unwavering commitment to our shared faith and values has been a source of inspiration.

The High Holidays are profoundly significant in our tradition, offering us the opportunity for introspection, renewal, and reconnection with our spiritual roots. I look forward to sharing these experiences together in our beautiful new building. So, please join us for Selichot on September 9th, when we will consecrate our Sanctuary and bring our Torahs home.

In closing, I must admit that I don’t really like the empty nest metaphor. I prefer to think of my home as a fun, exciting retreat center, or even as a serene, replenishing spa. A place where my kids can come when they need some TLC, want to reconnect, or simply need a place to think, to relax, and to grow. This year may Temple Beth Tikvah also be such a place for all of you.

Karen Goldberg

Rabbi's Column - September 2023

Dear Friends,

In Judaism, community matters. The ideal way to enjoy a meal is with at least three people. We need ten adults to form a minyan. It’s certainly permissible to study alone, but learning with a chevruta (‘study partner’ — from the same Hebrew root as ‘friend’) is among one of the most fulfilling paths in the spiritual life of a Jew.

To be Jewish is to share meaningful Jewish experiences with others. That’s why I’m thrilled to introduce a new initiative called Kesher - רשק, which means ‘connection’ in Hebrew. Kesher offers a way to connect with fellow TBT folks in small affinity groups. Each group will meet at least once each month throughout the year, and will be facilitated by a member of TBT! Some groups will form around general interests; and others are Judaically focused. You can learn to cook delicious modern Israeli recipes, hit the slopes in a Jewish ski group, find support and guidance if you are caring for a loved one, sing new and classic Jewish music, and much more!

Why are we doing this? Well, you may have participated in one of our small-group parlor conversations last year. A common theme emerged: people who described their involvement at TBT as particularly rewarding often felt connected first through a small circle of friends. Often, these friendships blossomed while their kids were little or growing up through Bar/Bat Mitzvah. Some of these groups continue to meet after many years! Kesher is our effort to create fun, relational opportunities more proactively, across age and stage. And it just starts with having fun getting to know other TBT folks, once a month. Won’t you join one of our pilot groups? More information can be found here: http://www.tbtshoreline.org/kesher-groups.

Hineh mah tov u’mah naim
Shevet achim v’achayot gam yachad

How pleasant, how perfect, when friends gather together as one (Psalms 133)

Bivracha (Blessings),
Rabbi Moss

Rabbi's Column - August 2023 High Holiday Shofar

Dear Friends,

As we enter the Hebrew month of Elul, we find ourselves once again within Judaism’s central season of renewal. This period of Jewish time revolves around two primary spiritual technologies: Cheshbon Ha-Nefesh (an accounting of our deeds and goals); and Teshuvah (repair, reconciliation, return).

That feeling of renewal courses throughout our entire community this year, too. Together our hearts turn to our beautifully renovated synagogue home as we prepare to return for the High Holy Days at TBT for the first time in several years. We will consecrate our gorgeous sanctuary and welcome back our Torah Scrolls to the ark at Selichot (September 9th). If you do not often join for this beautiful, contemplative evening service, I especially encourage you to experience it this year. Our wonderful choir will be presenting special musical pieces for the occasion, and our very own Noah Stein has composed a new piece of congregational music just for the occasion.

And there’s more homecoming to look forward to this fall! Please save the date for a festive weekend of gratitude: November 3rd and 4th. That Friday night we will say todah — thank you — to all who have helped us to arrive in our beautiful renovated space. Then on Saturday night, we will party!

Hashiveinu Adonai Eilecha V’Nashuva - Help us to turn back to you, God, and we will turn: to one another, to our beautiful synagogue home, and to a new year filled with joy and endless possibilities.

Bivracha (Blessings),
Rabbi Moss

President's Column - Summer 2023

eaar TBT Family,

As Independence Day approaches, I would like to share my background. I was born in Santiago, Chile. My father had the opportunity to go to New York City to train in Kidney Transplantation. The plan was to spend three years in the United States, then go back home. While we were in New York, there was a military coup in Chile and Augusto Pinochet took control as a violent dictator. He ruled from 1973 to 1990. Even though my grandparents missed us very much, they warned us not to come back. It is with this backdrop that I truly love this country and appreciate the freedoms that many take for granted. On July 4th, we will celebrate the birth of a nation built on the principles of freedom, equality, and justice for all. We know that our country is not perfect, and we still have work to do, but this is our inspiration, this is our goal.

For us, as Jews, Independence Day, and our commitment to freedom, resonates deeply. Rabbi Sharon Brous said, “The idea that it’s possible to move from slavery to freedom and from darkness to light and from despair to hope – that is the greatest Jewish story ever told.”

Independence Day should be a reminder that we must continue to uphold our democracy. As Jews we understand the importance of supporting our religious and cultural differences while also embracing our society’s diversity.

I am proud to say that TBT is doing that. We have a strong relationship with our interfaith community. We continue to sponsor Afghan refugee families. Our Kulanu group is leading us in fighting hate and antisemitism. We are supporting Madison PrideFest and literally raising the roof for people in poverty. We are proud of our big tent, and we acknowledge that the diversity in our synagogue makes us better. In this light, I will end with a quote from Nelson Mandela: “For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”

Shalom and Happy Independence Day,
Karen Goldberg

A note from Dr. Cassorla - June 2023

Dear TBT Family,

One of my chief joys in the last week has been putting my winter blanket up and taking out my summer “cooling cover.” While there is a sense of coziness that comes with the winter blanket, I find a sense of freedom with the summer cover. Meanwhile, it feels like the porch is calling my name in the evenings as the sun takes its sweet time setting over the hills. And the beach beckons each Shabbat.

Our lives are marked by recurrences in time and season that nonetheless are not truly a circle, but rather a spiral, in which the return of the familiar sounds more like a harmonious echo than a repetition.

The rabbis recognized this sense of not-quite-recurrence. After the flood receded, God promised to never again upturn the laws of nature, but God also gave us a way to step out of the regimented time we, as humans, seem to need. Shabbat, a weekly vacation from the clock, is that space.

Rav Yehuda HaLevi, a medieval Spanish rabbi, poet, physician, and philosopher put this into words in his poem Avdei Zman (Slaves to Time), writing “Slaves to time are slaves to slavery /only those who work for God are free.” On Shabbat, we let go of our metered labor and instead welcome in an extra “ensoulment” of rest and repose in the presence of the holy.

What this looks like is different for each person who practices it. For some, lighting candles with the family on Friday night as Shabbat comes in is the moment of separation from the week. For others, it can be as simple as choosing not to listen to the news on Saturdays. Rabbi Zalman Shalomi Schachter famously explained that if walking around the mall was one’s way to let go of the weight of the week and reconnect to the inherent Shalom of God, one should get in the car and drive to the mall on Shabbat.

I encourage you to find your special Shabbat space this summer. We will continue to enjoy our Shabbat evening services each week—both in our new sanctuary and on our airy veranda. We will celebrate Clara Calvert later this month as she is called to the Torah as a Bat Mitzvah. And our choir has already begun to prepare for our Board Installation Shabbat Service that same weekend (June 23-24).

We would love to see you there.

Kol Tuv,
Dr. C

President's Column - June 2023

Hello Friends,

What a month it has been for Temple Beth Tikvah! What an honor it has been to be the president of TBT during these special Shehecheyanu moments.

Let’s start with our May 12th Shabbat service in our new sanctuary when we revealed the ark doors. We had set up for 100 people. Who could possibly have predicted that would not be enough? We scrambled to get more chairs and Gary Damiano rushed off to Stop and Shop to buy more food for the Oneg. As Taylor Swift says, “champagne problems.” The service filled me with memories that I will never forget. Seeing my son and so many of our incredible high school seniors honored in our new sanctuary brought tears to my eyes. Hearing Rabbi Offner on the bimah talking about the Interior Design Committee’s vision for the ark door three years ago filled me with gratitude. Having our Bat Mitzvah, Olivia Mervine-Schiff, help uncover our ark doors was beautiful, symbolic, and perfect. Then seeing those ark doors . . . the colors, the reflections, the Torah illuminated through the glass, the artistry . . . Shehecheyanu.

We had the opportunity to celebrate three B’nei Mitzvot in our new sanctuary this month. Mazel Tov to Simona Cottrill, Olivia Mervine-Schiff, and Joshua Glazer. Shehecheyanu.

We held our first annual meeting in our building in three years. We started that sacred meeting with a prayer, together singing Shehecheyanu.

We honored our Religious School teachers and had a special moment for Judy Pozzi who is retiring after 18 years of service at our Religious School. We are so grateful. Shehecheyanu.

Confirmation Shabbat celebrating our amazing teens. Shehecheyanu.

And finally, the greatest miracle of all . . . the birth of Rabbi Danny Moss and Rabbi Susan Landau Moss’s baby boy. On Friday July 28th, our congregation will have the opportunity to share in a blessing for our Rabbinic family. Shehecheyanu.

The literal translation of Shehecheyanu means “that we are alive.” As Jews we have a tradition of gratitude. We are thankful for all our blessings and that we are alive at this moment. As a community we have had a challenging three years. We had social isolation from COVID, we had clergy transitions, and we had what felt like a never-ending building renovation. I feel as if I am now at the top of the mountain seeing the holy land . . . and it is beautiful.

Praised are you G-d, ruler of the universe, for granting us life, for sustaining us, and for helping us to reach this day. Shehecheyanu.

Blessings,
Karen Goldberg

President's Column - May 2023

Hello Friends,

April 17 was Yom HaShoah, and I attended the beautiful service at our sister congregation in Chester. It started with a powerful presentation by Judith Altmann, a Holocaust survivor who was liberated by the allies from Auschwitz. She spoke about her early memories: her parents’ store being closed, not being allowed to attend school, her family’s move to the ghetto, the crowded train to the camps, being separated from her parents, standing on the line that was allowed to live, and watching her parents on the other line. . . She talked about the hunger, the smell, the death march, and the sickness. She finished by telling us that it was her responsibility as one of the survivors to continue to tell her story. It made me realize that soon there will no longer be firsthand witnesses to the Holocaust, and it will be up to us to continue to retell their stories. Not only must we never forget, we also cannot allow the rest of the world to forget.

This is my family’s story. All four of my grandparents were from Eastern Europe, and they were all Holocaust survivors. Many of you know that my mother lived in a displaced persons camp for five years, and she was one of the lucky ones. It is hard to even wrap my brain around 6 million Jews lost, among them 1.5 million children. European Jewry decimated. Jews scattering around the world. This painful history is part of the fabric of my Jewish soul.

My parents ended up in Chile. For a long time, I thought everyone in Chile was Jewish. My cousins went to Jewish schools, had Jewish friends, attended Jewish camps, and belonged to Jewish pool clubs. Their ingrained trauma bonded them together and reinforced the importance of being Jewish.

When Rabbi Moss asked us, “Why be Jewish?” my first response was this: it is a miracle that I am alive. Four of my grandparents had to beat the odds for me to be here today. My grandparents survived as proud and strong Jews. How could I walk away from that legacy?

Although this is true, on further reflection, I believe there must more to “why Jewish” then just a response to evil. Even as antisemitism is on the rise, and we are banding together, I prefer to choose Judaism out of joy and respect. So, to further answer Rabbi Moss’s question, “Why be Jewish?” I say -

I choose Judaism because I love our values, I love our music, I love our focus on learning, I love our community, I love our traditions, I love our spirituality, I love our prayers, I love our priority on family, and I love Israel.

My grandparents were deeply traumatized by the Holocaust, and they rarely spoke about their experiences. The one message that I do remember from my grandmother Anna was that all those Jewish lives were not lost in vain, because after the Holocaust we were given the land of Israel. My grandparents were all fervent Zionists, and they passed along that love to my parents and to me. Israel is a complicated place, and it is problematic in many ways, but I can’t help but to love Israel deeply.

The service last night ended with the Hatikvah. I too will end this column with those powerful words.

So long as within the inmost heart a Jewish spirit sings, so long as the eye looks eastward, gazing toward Zion, our hope is not lost. The hope of two thousand years: to be a free people in our land, the land of Zion and Jerusalem.

Blessings,
Karen Goldberg

Rabbi's Column - May 2023

Dear Temple Beth Tikvah,

By now you may have heard the news: Susan and I are expecting our first child in late May or early June. We are overjoyed, excited, and a little bit anxious to embark on this journey together. We are especially glad that we get to do that here on the Shoreline, as a part of the TBT community. I am writing this letter to you in order to share our gratitude, and also to communicate about my plans during this sacred time.

First and foremost, Susan and I feel so fortunate that the leadership of Temple Beth Tikvah helps staff and clergy prioritize family needs. Providing family leave and day-to-day support when needs arise is a true act of chesed (caring love) that recognizes that all of us are, first and foremost, human beings with obligations to those who love us. This recognition should be universal, but in this country it is not. So, modeh ani — I am all the more grateful.

Now for the plans. When the auspicious hour arrives, I will be with Susan for the arrival of the newest Moss and the transition to home. Over the summer, I will be on leave for a total of approximately eight to ten weeks. The precise timing will depend on the baby’s arrival and needs. I will be “back to work” for the remainder of the summer weeks and through the High Holy Days, in order to plan and support our team as the fall begins. While on leave, my focus will be on the needs of Susan and our new child. Therefore, I plan to be truly away from day-to-day duties, including email, phone calls, meetings, and ritual leadership. I am incredibly grateful to Dr. C, our office team, the Religious Activities Committee, volunteers, and our Rabbi Emerita and Emeritus - Rabbi Offner and Rabbi Sommer, all of whom you may encounter during this time.

In that vein, please know that TBT Clergy will be available to our members should an emergency arise. In that case, please call TBT’s main number at any time, and follow the prompts to our emergency line.

Finally, Susan and I are very excited for you to meet this new addition to our family. A formal welcome and blessing will take place at a Shabbat evening service this summer, date TBD.

The traditional Jewish greeting for an expectant parent is b’sha’ah tovah, loosely translated as ‘may it be a good and auspicious hour.’ Susan and I are so grateful for all of your love and support during this momentous time for us and our family.

Shalom,
Rabbi Danny Moss