Rabbi Monthly Message

April 30, 2024

Passover Message Copy

Marc Cohen / Uncategorized / Rabbi Monthly Message /

Passover message 5784

On all other nights we might not even dip a vegetable once, why on this night do we consciously dip vegetables twice, sweet greens into salt water and bitter herbs into sweet charoset.

Passover is an amazing festival of freedom. We don’t just remember the liberation of our ancestors from Egypt, we honor the experience of those who were in bondage being oppressed. This both/and is captured by our act of dipping twice during the seder.

First, we dip the sweet greens of karpas into salt water. The greens represent spring and the joy of a fresh start. We offset that sweetness by balancing it with a symbol of tears sadness and loss.

Then, just before we enjoy the meal, we taste maror, our bitter herbs. Typically we start with a taste of straight bitterness. Our sages knew, we as humans are quick to try and skip pass the negative emotions/memories. When we eat maror on its own, we are pushed to absorb that taste, the experiences that were hard to quite literally swallow. Then, our tradition highlights incredible grace. We do take another bite of the bitter herbs, but this time with charoset, a sweet fruit compote, to cut the bitterness and insulate our taste buds.

The two dips of our seder reinforce the same dynamic. We have known such sadness, loss, pain. We also have found sweetness, renewal, and joy. Each should be felt singularly but then, our rituals offer a way to shift from one to the other. When we rejoice, we remember our hard times. When we are beset by darkness, we consume something sweet to lift our spirits and energize our bodies.

We move and are moved back and forth. Not canceling out one part of life but seeing how there is more than bitterness or sweetness.

In this season of Passover, when Israel is being challenged in so many painful ways, when antisemitism is rampant and has on us on alert, let us take time and make the effort to enjoy charoset, literal or symbolic tastes of sweetness.

Even as we welcome spring time, and celebrate the joys of a holiday, let us shed some tears for those who are in danger, these who are facing a loss, for those not free to live to their highest potential.

In this season, let us not dismiss either element of life, bitter or sweet, fresh or salty, but use their interaction to keep us moving forward to a place and time that is full of Shalom, wholeness, harmony and peace.

Chag, Sameach,

Rabbi Michael Birnholz

March 5, 2024

Wall of Hope and Holocaust Memory

Michael Birnholz / Rabbi, Uncategorized / Rabbi Monthly Message /

Kevah and Kavanah

The Wall of Hope and Holocaust Memory

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Over the years, I have explained the dynamic that we experience as we read our sacred story from the Torah Scroll. As we know, there are no vowels or punctuation in the Scroll. When one reads from the Torah, the reader learns the vowels and punctuation from a reading resource, remembering these details and then offering them alongside the consonant written in the Scroll.

These consonants are the Kevah, the physical, concrete, fixed elements. They are matched by our Kavannah, the intention, spirit, creativity that brings the Kevah to life. Kevah is like sheet music. Kavanah is the way the musician, with skill and artistic flair, breathe and effort, brings the music to life. As I tell our Bar and Bat Mitzvah students, our ancestors have given us the two dimensional Torah Scroll, “Black Fire on White Fire.” It is up to us to learn the sounds of our story and then breathe our voice into the words bringing them off the page, to life. The interplay between Kevah and Kavanah, the fixed words and the creative energy of our spirit, is one of the most vital dynamics of our tradition. Time and again we combine the Kevah and Kavnah to connect our past, present and future, bringing memory into reality.

We have the opportunity to create this interaction in a different aspect of our congregation. Over the last number of months, we have added to our Butterfly Project activities with the creation of a Wall of Hope and Holocaust Memory.

So many people have been part of the inspiration, design and creation of this wall.

From Monica Maria Tetzlaff, who gave Beth Shalom the Viktor Olgyai painting setting the creation of this wall in motion * Glenda Taylor of Indian River Clay, who has enabled us to make hundreds (if not thousands) of ceramic butterflies * Gabe Kaplan, Richard Bialosky and Bryson Valley, who created the outdoor Butterfly Tree of Memory * Shanti Sanchez who connected us with the Butterfly Project and passing the mantle to Hannah Daniel who expanded this project into a community wide effort * Steven and Linda Friedman, who worked with Aric Attas to create a reproduction of the Viktor Olgyai Painting and then stepped forward to fund the restoration of the original painting for this wall * Steve and Linda joined with Clara McCarthy, Susan Berlin and the Shackelton family to share stories of their families’ experiences during the Holocaust * Chloe Schwartz and Taylor Chim, who have provided the design * and finally, Ashley Shackelton who stepped forward to lead and fund the effort to turn the idea of a Wall of Hope and Holocaust Memory, into a reality (honoring her grandmother’s survival and her daughter Alexandra becoming Bat Mitzvah)

They have created the Wall of Hope and Holocaust Memory, a powerful new Kevah for our congregation and community. Now, we have to bring our Kavanah, our life, our spirit, our energy to not just look at the wall, but to bring the stories and values it embodies to life.

We invite you to join us on May 11th at 3pm as we officially unveil this wall exhibit in the Religious School Hall of the Sanctuary building. We will appreciate the efforts of those who took time to create the Wall, and hear the stories from those featured on the Wall. Help us by seeing the Wall, hearing those stories and finding ways with us, with Community One Initiative, Religious School and Enrichment Committee, as we offer programs, activities and opportunities to combine this new place of Kevah in our congregation with the Kavanah of Hope and Memory.

Chag Sameach and B’Shalom,

Rabbi Michael Birnholz

February 7, 2024

Remembering Through Action

Michael Birnholz / Uncategorized / Rabbi Monthly Message /

In the last month, I have found myself reading/watching/listening to a lot of stories of Jewish experience from the Holocaust/Shoah. I have watched the miniseries based on the novel, All the Light We Cannot See. At the same time, I found myself reading/rereading The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult. I have also been presenting the Butterfly project and the book, I Never Saw Another Butterfly. All of these accounts offer a window into the brutal social and physical anti-semitism of Nazi Germany.

Even as I have been looking back and feeling these memories, we have observed one hundred days since the attack on Israel, knowing that the war to stop that terrorism continues and countless hostages are still being held while there is a spike in anti-semitism across the country and world.

Witnessing these stories tears at the heart and mind, reminding me of the pain so many people have felt and the fear that many of us carry through the increase of anti-semitism and senseless hatred in our own day and age.

It’s understandable, if this is what I have been consuming and sharing, and this is what we have been experiencing, to feel surrounded by an atmosphere of negativity. Even so, as I have read these books, watched these shows, followed the news and shared this information, I know that I am even more inspired and empowered. With each turn, even in pain and loss and fear, I am reminded of the value to honor and remember. From our very origins we are instructed to tell stories of the past connected to action to make ourselves and the world better. In these media, I watch as people have born the weight of loss and fear and in turn, uplifted and empowered by courage, hope, perseverance.

If we freeze in fear hide from the pain or give in to anger others are generating too much, we surrender the powerful gifts of generations before. We honor and remember them by acting now. Just in terms of Holocaust Education and responding to anti-Semitism there are so many opportunities in in February and March

Attend Participate Support

You do not have to complete the task but if each of us invests some time and energy, imagine the connections we make an impact generate for honoring those who have suffered. This is the way we build a community of strength and resilience and changing the world in a positive way.

August 31, 2023

Finding the Remnants of Blessings past

Michael Birnholz / Uncategorized / Rabbi Monthly Message /

It has been four years since we have had High Holy Days, together, in-person, in the sanctuary at Temple Beth Shalom…..
In those four years, we have changed individually, our congregation has changed, yes, even the building has changed. Yet, how much will be familiar and just like before?
While this might be a universal human experience in lots of venues and communities in the wake of the Covid pandemic, there is also an incredible framework of Jewish experience and wisdom that we can apply. Our ancestors frequently had to reset themselves, with intention, going from disruption/destruction into a new life, working on connecting the past while still moving forward.
The framework focuses on the idea of Israel being a “Sacred Remnant”

One religious scholar defines A remnant as a left-over amount from a larger portion or piece, whether it is food, material from which a garment is fashioned, or even a group of people. After a destruction or a time of loss, those remnants are reinvigorated with God’s support. For example, we read in Isaiah 10
34 The thickets of the forest shall be hacked away with iron, And the Lebanon trees shall fall in their majesty. Chapter 111 But a shoot shall grow out of the stump of Jesse,(Father of King David) A twig shall sprout from his stock. 2 The spirit of the Eternal One shall alight upon him: A spirit of wisdom and insight, A spirit of counsel and valor, A spirit of devotion and reverence for the Eternal One. https://gotquestions.org/Bible-remnant.html

This concept of the Sacred Remnant reoccurs in the Hebrew Bible and throughout our history. I am always drawn when I find very real world illustrations in our day and age. As a Jewish garden educator, one often finds plants that have been damaged and yet are able to generate a next generation to continue life in the world. One example of sacred remnant in the plant world grows to an entirely different level when it intersects and becomes an act of Holocaust memory and survival.
With the THE SAPLING PROJECT the stewards of the Anne Frank House created this dynamic both for a chestnut tree and as a way to honor Anne Frank’s life and message to the world.

As Anne wrote about her own hopes and dreamed of a better future, she often looked out upon a large horse chestnut tree in the garden behind the Secret Annex. For her, the tree symbolized freedom as well as nature, which she longed to enjoy once again. Sadly, the aging chestnut tree behind the Secret Annex collapsed from disease in 2010. However, in the few years before the tree’s demise, the stewards at the Anne Frank House wisely created saplings that have since been distributed to numerous locations around the world.
For more information: http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/04/30/anne.frank.tree/index.html

Our return to the Sanctuary for High Holy Days after an absence of four years might not be quite that dramatic, but it is still significant and calls on us to mark it with intention. We have the opportunity and responsibility to witness experiences of being a sacred remnant, reconnecting and restoring after a loss. There is work to do to create experiences of connection and maintain the connections generated by others. We should reflect and ask ourselves, “What are we rekindling? What do I find anew? How do I/we celebrate honor memories of the past and yet, tune into blessings and challenges of a new year fresh start? Finding ways to weave this framework of Sacred Remnant into our High Holy Day experiences not only helps us feel the weight of the last few years but add additional layers of sweetness to this new year of 5784.

L’Shanah Tova, Rabbi Michael Birnholz

May 2, 2023

A Rabbi Says Thank You

Michael Birnholz / Uncategorized / Rabbi Monthly Message /

In 2022, as a congregation and a community, we celebrated the 20 years that I have been blessed to be the Rabbi, teacher, spiritual leader, caregiver, and yes, sometimes cook, bottle washer and chair mover.

When I arrived with Jill, and our eldest child Ren and Adina on the way, I could both tell you how I dreamed of how I would want my life with this congregation to unfold, and also never imagined all of the care, love and support we would receive. In these twenty years, I have aged from the “kid who couldn’t be old enough to be a Rabbi” into this phase of life, with my own children heading off into the world and a heart and head (as well an office) full of incredible experiences to teach from and share. As we have grown (welcoming Nathaniel) and moving from house to house, you have included me in your lives and honored me by sharing so many sacred moments. I really cannot express how proud I am to be the Rabbi of your little Shul in the Woods. While Temple Beth Shalom is not perfect, still facing challenges of our size and our world, the ways we gather, in simcha and tsuris, is remarkable and powerful. While I still learn every day (if not every hour), I am always in awe as you repeat my teachings back to me, sharing that you have heard me and delight in returning my G!d given wisdom to teach me and help each other.

I am awash in awe and thanksgiving. I feel the impact of my efforts and my heart is full of appreciation for all of the people, in big moments and small ways, have stepped forward to give their ruach and koach, energy, wisdom and resources to me, my family and to our congregation. I have witnessed Temple Beth Shalom truly be that House of Shalom: a place where we create something extraordinary, wholeness and harmony more than the sum of it’s parts.

As we celebrate, I’m going to try to say thank you. It’s really not enough. I keep coming back to the words from the Shabbat morning service as we offer thanksgiving to G!d as the source of life:

Ilu Finu malei shirah k’yam malei shirah, shirah k’yam
ul’shonaynu rina kahom kahom ga’lav…
Could song fill our mouth as water fills the sea, could our tongues sing endlessly like countless waves,
Could our lips utter praise as limitless as the sky, and could our eyes shine like the sun, and the moon…
Could our arms spread heavenward like eagles’ wings, and our feet run with gentle grace, like the swiftest deer, …we would still be unable to fully express the gratitude for one ten-thousandth of the lasting love or for even one of the myriad of moments of kindness, which is Your precious blessing, dearest G!d, granted to our ancestors and us.
Yet, while we might only offer the tiniest fraction of thanksgiving, we don’t refrain. With full hearts and open hands, we appreciate the blessings of our lives and return that energy with the gifts of our body and spirit.

As we celebrate this anniversary, this is precisely what I do. I continue to transform my appreciation into the next sequence of labor to care for our congregation and build a world of Shalom.

Pirke Avot chapter 2, verse 16, “It is not incumbent upon you to finish the task, but neither are you free to absolve yourself from it.”

The labor of lifting this living and vital community will never finish, but with twenty years of partnership and heart-felt care, I’m empowered, energized and inspired to keep bringing all my heart and soul, all my ruach and koach, filling my endeavor as Rabbi of Temple Beth Shalom with my passion and love. Rabbi Michael Birnholz

November 12, 2022

Thanksgiving Message

Michael Birnholz / Uncategorized / Rabbi Monthly Message /

Judaism is all about finding the connections in our world. Over the last few weeks, in the countdown to Thanksgiving, I have been giving a lot of thought to the dynamics between the blessings I receive, which in turn cause me to give thanks. As I have considered these values and dynamics, I was drawn into the nexus between an episode of “Dear Hank and John (Green)”, a line from the text Elu D’varim and a story and story teller from The Moth Radio Hour program. In episode 291 of their podcast, Hank and John Green debate what a “Dear Hank letter” would be (as opposed to a Dear John letter). They decide that a “Dear Hank letter” would be someone writing a thank you to a person who can’t possibly be of service, someone who can’t do anything to help you. This thank you is not transactional, simply an act of appreciation for someone who has done something for you in the past.

One morning as we recited the text of Elu D’varim, I realized that the “Dear Hank Letter” embodied an important Jewish value and Jewish act. In this text, we say that “ulvayat hamet” – escorting the dead- is one of the ten things we do that makes an impact in This World but also accrue merit in the World to Come. It is our responsibility to make sure that everyone who dies, has a graceful, dignified burial. We often say that is an act of caring that cannot be repaid. Like the Dear Hank Letter, the person who has died has no way of saying thank you.

The connection between the Dear Hank Letter and ulvayat hamet/escorting the dead took on greater depth and meaning in the wake of learning of another death. For a number of years I have retold a story of Tee Dixon that I heard on The Moth Storytelling show. In her story, Tee Dixon is working as an Emergency Room Trauma doctor. A grievously injured teenager comes in and her survival is far from certain. Tee cares for her through many tense days until the girl is able to leave the ICU. It is a story of giving and not knowing or even being aware of the depth of the gift. Tee was not expecting thanks; she was just giving her life and blessing in the face of death and curse. Incredibly she crossed paths with the teen a year later. She was unsure how the teen knew her, the teen had been unconscious the whole time. “You kept talking to me and calling me by name. You were so gentle and kind. Of course, I remember your voice.” It’s the opposite of the Dear Hank Letter. Tee heard thank you from the teen. Over the years, I have shared it as a reminder of the impact of our voice and how we speak with people.

This is not the end of the story. Just a few months ago, I caught a replay of the story and my heart broke. The producers shared that since the story’s release, the storyteller, Tee Dixon had died. While I have been using the story to teach one set of values, suddenly I found it now embodied a powerful dynamic of being thankful but not being able to say thank you. Now, when I tell the story, I am thinking of it as a “Dear Hank Letter”. Unlike the teen in the story, I can’t even meet Tee Dixon by chance. I really have no way to say thank you for the gift of that story beyond telling it and living it out as I cross paths with people in the course of life. As an act of Ulvayat haMet, I feel an extra push, to show that I have taken her story to heart and work to bring it into the world.

This is not really a Thanksgiving story. Yet, it is my hope and prayer that it energizes your observance of this special American holiday. As you consider this dynamic of giving and receiving, of blessing and appreciation, I hope you will not just get stuck in food and gathering and parades and sports, and move beyond pshat/surface activities of Thanksgiving. Let us build on our words of thanks with actions of appreciation honoring the love and light we experience by expanding it into our world.

October 9, 2022

Renewal of Sukkot

marlis / Uncategorized / Rabbi Monthly Message /

In October I was joined by Tessa and Matan Ben Ami and Charlie Fox for planting at Shining Lights Garden. While we planted ten 500 foot rows of squash seeds (that’s about a mile) we chatted about the High Holy Days that had passed and the Festival of Sukkot that was about to begin. Planting in a garden is an amazing spot to appreciate the values of Sukkot. As we dropped the seeds in the earth and covered it so they would grow, we debated and discussed our favorite parts of Sukkot: the cycle of the dry season to the rainy season (in Israel and in Florida), the seasonality of the fruits and vegetables we eat, and the health of the soil (that we have to feed it as it feeds us). We witnessed it all in one place.

While I kept talking about the agricultural elements of Sukkot, Matan looked up and said, “what about the Torah?” I was so enamored with planting before this harvest and planting, I had not considered another cycle of Sukkot. We end Sukkot with Simchat Torah, as we read the end of Deuteronomy and roll back to the beginning of Genesis. While it isn’t part of the celebration in our Sukkot, this act of renewal is a vital part of this season as well. Just as we started to discuss Simchat Torah, we heard a large tractor in the next field over. It was removing the last season’s eggplant bushes. I couldn’t believe it. It was an illustration of Simchat Torah, right there in the Shining Lights Garden. One season was finished and spent. It was being pulled away to make room for the replanting of that space. (See the picture above) We were seeing the end of one cycle and the start of another, so viscerally and powerfully. This work of the field mirrored the story of Moses and the People of Israel completing the Torah and the cycling back to Genesis. Even as Moses dies after a full life, Joshua leads the way into the Promised Land. We also witnessed the chaos of untilled earth make way for the order of rows and a new Garden of Eden space being planted. This is part of the reason I make the effort to spend time going outside, whether to the beach or to the garden. As much as I learn in the Torah Scroll inside, I find insights and illustrations into that sacred story by being connected to activities and cycles of nature.

You might not be a gardener or someone who loves the outdoors, but I invite you to be part of our Sukkot observances at TBS. Join us in the Sukkah… You never know what connection you might find, from the food, or from the prayer and ritual or from the people you meet in that place!