#templeemanuel

Congregation Emanu-El, the first Reform Jewish synagogue in New York City, is hiring part-time faculty for the 2017-18 school year. Our innovative and unique religious school is committed to Jewish learning that is relevant, inspirational, and transformative. Our students take pride in their Jewish heritage and act upon their beliefs. Visit our website at www.emanuelnyc.org/school to learn more about our school and our congregation, our educational vision, and the programs we offer, including Tribes, Tefilah, and Mitzvah Corps.

The holiday of Thanksgiving is so confusing to me because the story we learn in school represents a kind of peace type treaty between Pilgrims and Indians. If you dive into the authentic history of Thanksgiving, you will be quite disappointed by the story as it becomes a bloody struggle between the Puritans and the Pequot Indians. Other American holidays also misrepresent history such as Columbus Day. In addition, the Thanksgiving holiday can also add much pressure or stress to some families. So in order to be part of the solution, we choose to participate in performing mitzvot as it refocuses the purpose of the moment.

Watching the Macy’s Day Parade is one of our traditions for Steve and me. Last year was especially interesting as Erin, our daughter, was a candy cane stilt walker for Lindt’s Chocolate Company. We were glued to the television; it was remarkable to see our daughter on a national broadcast. Like last year, we chose a firehouse and prepared a special meal for the them. This year we chose Fire House #16 in our own Twin Lakes neighborhood as they have visited us many times this past year. Our kitchen stayed busy during the morning hours as Erin and I discovered the art of cooking and glazing a ham. Around 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, Erin, Jake, Steve and I delivered the ham, a fresh green salad, fruit bowl, cranberry sauce, roasted potatoes and iced tea to crew. We had a tour, good conversation, and Jake received some good advice on next steps as he begins his firefighting/EMT career.

Since both of our kids were home this year, we continued our family tradition of lobster and steak with new side dishes: baked sweet potato slices topped with avocado, saffron cabbage, green beans and mango key lime pie. It was simple, and Erin and I vied for our respective places on the couch afterwards!

After a scrumptious meal together, it was difficult to redo a meal for Shabbat. Jake worked, Erin had a show, and Steve and I decided that we needed to return to synagogue for some possible peace from the political antagonism that continues. We still have this unsettled tug in our stomachs as the future cabinet choices are made pubic. Anti-everything seems to roll on news feeds. Rabbi Shefrin reminded us that prayer is still a useful tool for hope. My brother-in-law, Mitch Weinberger, recently sent me an article, What my Jewish, immigrant father taught me about the American Dream. It reminds us “that there will be setbacks and hardship, but you’re not alone if you have optimism. That those across the country expressing hateful sentiments are just a minority in a nation filled with all kinds of people: wonderful, hardworking, awful, petty, amazing, complicated, striving people.” This was also Rabbi Shefrin’s message that night.

“Remember[ing] the Sabbath day,” the fourth commandment if you are Jewish as there are 613 to try to accomplish over a lifetime - a very lofty endeavor, can have many interpretations. As Temple Emanu-El members on this Sabbath eve, it can mean celebrating Shabbat Alive - “an exhilarating musical service where worshippers celebrate with upbeat, contemporary arrangements of the traditional Sabbath prayers.” However, if you are the Weinberger’s, this Shabbat Alive is even more elevated as our daughter, Erin J. Weinberger, takes the stage in her debut performance as a Hot Box Girl in “the Asolo Rep's highly anticipated 2016-17 season, the fifth and final of its celebrated American Character Project.” And according to the playbill, “GUYS AND DOLLS is hailed as one of the greatest musical comedies of all time.” Spoiler alert...pure enjoyment and entertainment! The actors, actresses, orchestra, musical arrangements and choreography captivate your imagination with the “high-stakes quests for love and luck.”

As we took our opening night Row C, Seats 15 & 17 in the Mezzanine Section, Steve burst with joy, and long before the first note of the orchestra, the whole row had been informed that Erin was a Hot Box Girl. It was precious. I too was overwhelmed with pride and excitement to converse with anyone, so I waited patiently for the first chord of the opening number to fill the Mertz Theater. It has always been Erin’s goal to be an ensemble girl, and there she was on the stage on this particular Sabbath with Chris Hoch (Nathan Detroit) from Broadway’s Matilda, La Cage aux Folles, Shrek, Beauty and the Beast, Veronica J. Kuehn (Miss Adelaide) from Mamma Mia!, Cole Burden (Sky Masterson) from “the national tours of  Bridges of Madison County and the 25th Anniversary of LES MISERABLES” and Audrey Cardwell (Sarah Brown) who just completed the title role in the national tour of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella.

During the rehearsal processes of most shows, Erin and I often dissect and dive into conversation about the historical references of the scripts, the musical lyrics, and I try to learn to play the piano scores (not for the public). This show has been no different. The references are brilliant. For example, there is a reference to a town in Maryland - Pimlico. The audience usually roars with laughter, but if you do not know that the reference of Pimlico - a horse-racing track in Baltimore for “The Preakness Stakes, the second leg of the Triple Crown races (after the Kentucky Derby, and before the Belmont Stakes),” then the line flies over your head.  Another example of needing a glossary to help define lines is when Sky Masterson teases Sarah Brown about his knowledge of the Gideon Bible and he references the Babylonian names, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (“the Hebrew-form names were Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, respectively”). First of all, these are tough names to utter on stage as they take deliberate elocution, and second the line is empty unless you know that these three young men were companions of Daniel, in the book of Daniel, who refused to worship the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up, and were [ultimately] thrown into a burning fiery furnace.”  Masterson brags to Sarah how he once won a $5K bet on knowing this as he “is a betting man.”

Erin’s costumes as a Hot Box Girl are 1950s burlesque-style and rather revealing. On this night, she knew, of course, that her dad was in the audience and she told me that she whispered to the other three Hot Box Girls prior to going on stage, “Daddy, I’m sorry,” as he would have to cover his eyes. Like we say in our family, “Keep the drama on the stage.”

This Shabbat was definitely alive and well. Guys and Dolls is an exceptionally funny show that “promises... this and promises...that. [It] promises... anything under the sun (adapted lyrics from Sue Me).” Mazel Tov to Erin Weinberger and the entire cast of Guys and Dolls. Thank you to fellow Jew, Frank Loesser, for writing the lyrics and music to this show and giving us an exciting way to “remember this Sabbath day.”

Shabbat Playlist #18 (Chai: To Life - A Service to Remember)

A favorite service to attend at Temple Emanuel is Simchat Torah - the time we finish reading the last story in Deuteronomy and commence the first story in Genesis. Whether one believes in G-d or not, the celebration is joyous. (Side note: I say this as our son claims at this point in his young adult life to be an agnostic Jew.)

We document the occasion by rolling out the Torah from end to end in the sanctuary. The congregation gets up out of their seats and onto their feet. Each year, congregants delicately support the parchment. The males say a blessing for the ending and the women repeat the blessing for the beginning. The moment becomes inclusive and sweet. Songs like B’Shana Haba'ah (Next Year), Torah Torah Torah, David Melach Israel, Am Israel Chai (The People of Israel Live), and Etz Chaim He (The Tree of Life) are sung and spirits are lifted. Children bear witness to a moment of transition and stand in awe of the Torah unfurled. Each year Rabbi Glickman holds his breath as he must hope that the Torah endures no rips, tears, or drops. Once the Torah is redressed, he takes an enormous sigh of relief as he is the protector of the Torah.