Off to Kenya in Three Weeks!

I am getting excited about my upcoming trip to Kenya to learn more about HIV-AIDS treatment programs and to visit health facilities and orphanages. The last time I was there I was single, on leave from the Air Force and in a very different place in my life.

A Rabbi, an imam, a cantor and a minister walk into...

We had a wonderful meeting at the Islamic Center of Southern California to plan a unique event - a Universal Freedom Seder, inspired by the struggles for freedom that are occurring in Egypt and throughout the Arab world. The event will take place tomorrow evening. Visit www.filmsthatmatter.com for details and tickets.

Article on the Guatemala Adventure

In case you want to read about our experience in Cantel, Guatemala, you can go to:
http://www.theacorn.com/news/2010-01-21/Faith/Teens_gain_new_perspective_from_trip_to_Guatemala.html

Golf & Flying

Hobbies...My golf game is getting inconsistent - occasionally stunning, even professional-looking on a shot or two and then the next shot reminds me that luck only works some of the time. Regardless of the frustration, I am enjoying the game.

Last weekend, my brother got his wings. He was checked out and deemed qualifies to solo in Dad's Nanchang CJ-6, a fabulous warplane that we have the pleasure to fly as often as time and weather allow. As a bonus, I took a flight in this speed demon, a Christen Eagle - rolls, a full loop and a hammerhead stall above the Santa Paula Valley. Now that's livin'! Thanks to Frank for a great experience.

Back from AIPAC

I got back from the AIPAC Policy Summit in DC a few weeks ago. It was eye opening - particularly with all that has transpired in US-Israel relations lately.

There were three on our delegation last year and twenty this year. We now have fifty members coming to the summit in 2011. Let's hope that the issues are less dramatic next year...

Xicam, Cantel, Guatemala

I got home from Guatemala a couple of weeks ago. What an incredible experience. To read about it, go to http://www.theacorn.com/news/2010-01-21/Faith/Teens_gain_new_perspective_from_trip_to_Guatemala.html.

Guatemala in 2009; Israel in 2010

I am getting excited about two upcoming trips - Guatemala in December and Israel in late February. The Guatemala trip will be a first for me and for the community. I will lead a group of teenagers and a few adult chaperones on a volunteer trip to Cantel, a village in the mountains of Guatemala. Why? How else can I teach the difference between need and want other than by exposing these privileged kids to people who live with some needs met and few wants even considered? We live in an environment of good fortune and opportunity where broken iPods are tragedies and where parents who do not upgrade their kids' iPhones every time Steve Jobs sends a new one to market are just plain mean. Aside from this lofty goal, I just think the adventure will be incredible and perspective-altering.

Israel in the spring...There are few places as beautiful and as deeply moving. Every time I return to Israel, I connect past to present and make sense of a piece of my identity that cannot be fully addressed in other places. I can't wait to see Israel again through the eyes of people seeing her for the very first time.

Eric Menyuk or "Menyuk the Maginficent" on Purim

I heard the Megillah read three times this last Purim and by far the most engaging version was Eric Menyuk's rendition at our VOS service. Eric was a wonderful addition to a great evening in which many of our JEWELS students led us in prayers of the Shabbat service for the first time.

Thoughts on Kashrut - Dietary Laws

I have been studying Jewish dietary laws over the past couple of months.  I have no doubt that they were created for a slower and less aggressive world than the one that we now inhabit. I recently read that a farmer would raise and fatten a pig  (no, not a kosher example) for two years before it reached the point where it could be profitably slaughtered.  But now, we have condensed that once natural process to six months!  Jewish dietary laws concerning animals focus on the humaneness of slaughtering (shechitah) but we have to wonder if the Author of these laws had any concept of the life that we would one day afford our animals prior to their slaughter?  In biblical days or even talmudic times, who raised chickens in tiny metal cages and slaughtered them after only one month of rapid growth?  The examples are too numerous to mention but they do force us to ask whether or not kashrut itself needs to be revisited in light of modernity.

Brigadier General Relik Shafir at VOS - March 20th

Our synagogue enjoyed a visit from Brigadier General Shafir. The general came an an envoy of the Israel Air Force Foundation and shared a Purim Shabbat with us before addressing the congregation on intricacies of flight and Middle East politics. Next year, we hope to meet with him again when we visit an air force base in Israel.

VOS Celebrates Tu Bishvat at Shalom Institute

What a day! The rain left us long enough to enjoy a sunny hike, plant a peach tree for VOS, hear the fabulous Rick Recht and Soul Aviv with Jack and the VOS band in concert.  Jonah and Hannah had the thrill of singing Hinei Ma Tov with Rick much to our delight.  Thanks to Bill Kaplan and the staff at Camp JCA Shalom who put on a terrific event.

2009 VOS Dinner with Cantor Ron

For the past couple of years, I have auctioned off a Shabbat Gourmet Dinner as a fundraising item for the synagogue.  I love to cook and with the help of Larry Rudner, Bronwen, guest chefs, Jonah and Hannah, and a talented and devoted kitchen staff of friends, I knew that the evening would be fun and delicious. Thanks to Larry, Laurie and Marsha for a great event. 

  

Israel in December - A VOS Family Trip

Thirty four of us landed in Tel Aviv on December 22nd.  The next ten days were extraordinary - camel riding in the desert, goat milking and cheese making in the Galilee, jeep rides on the Golan Heights, digging in two thousand year old caves in Beit Guvrin, and two beautiful Bar Mitzvahs - one atop the ancient Roman fortress of Masada and another in the Sephardic Synagogue in Jerusalem... It was an amazing trip and an incredible experience for all of our families.

Movie Premiere

Well, as you may remember, I was the rabbi in a new Robert DeNiro, Bruce Willis movie called WHAT JUST HAPPENED.  Trailers are now on the air and on the web and the premiere is in New York on Friday, October 17th.  Very exciting...

Tashlich at the Pacific 2008/5769

Having shared the Rosh Hashanah celebration in the synagogue, many of us met at the beach for the beautiful experience of tashlich.  Th seagulls obviously were on the Jewish calendar as well and knew that we would be tossing bread into the ocean and showed up as a hungry flock.

Tashlich at the Pacific 2008/5769

Israel - 2008

One of the highlights of our trip to Israel was an archeological dig. It was amazing to find and hold items that has not been touced or seen in more than two thousand years!




A visit to Beit Sh'an revealed a stunning and ancient Roman city - complete with an enormous amphitheater, hippodrome and countless streets and houses.



Our guide, Zev, explained the layout and history of the ancient city.

Two men enter the Dead Sea...It's the best weight loss program I know...Ben and I floated - wondering what the life guard was hired to do at a sea where drowning is impossible...



VOS afloat...Enjoying the lowest point on earth - Yam Hamelach - the Dead Sea.

Israel - 2008

Jeep riding on the Golan Heights! We drove along the Jordan River and up to the northern most point where we overlooked three countires at once - Israel, Syria and Lebanon.

After the rough ride on the jeeps, we settled in for a big meal alongside the Jordan River. Betsy sat in the sun and drew the scenery while the rest of us drank coffees and ate fig ice cream.

Israel - 2008

Israel was in full bloom. We rode jeeps along the Jordan River and onto the Golan Heights where we overlooked three countries at once - Israel, Syria and Lebanon.

We enjoyed a delicious lunch at the Tishbi Winery. My dad surprised all of us by being there to greet us!

On the Ancient Steps to the Holy Temple in Jerusalem

Here we sat on the very steps that led the Israelites to the Temple. This is part of a recently discovered section of the Temple Mount (southern wall).

Israel - 2008

A great moment and a great memory - reaching the top of Masada. Seven climbed and seven arrived. Mazel tov to Doreen, Marlene, Art, Bill, Ben, Stan (and me)!

Israel - 2008

Our trip to Israel was incredible. Of the forty three of us, at least half had never been to Israel. To see it through their eyes was wonderful.

This photo brings back great memories of our Shabbat in Jerusalem. (Click on photo if you wish to enlarge it).

Israel in March

I am very excited about returning to Israel in two weeks. It will be Valley Outreach Synagogue's first Israeli trip and hopefully, the first of many more to come. I would love for every member of our congregation to experience Israel at some point.

This photo of my family was taken in the market in Old Jerusalem this summer.

Let Freedom Reign Without and Within

Most of us are born into liberty so liberty becomes our breath – a life-force operating involuntarily and with only occasional and voluntary conscious thought. We read about the Islamic world where only this week there is an announced change to criminal law. In Iran, anyone who converts from Islam is subject under an addition to the criminal code to the death penalty. It is interesting to contrast that news with the latest Pugh poll also released this week on religious trends in America. According to the poll, nearly half of Americans practice a faith other than the one to which they were born with no legal repercussions. The government leaves the important decisions of faith and even morality to the individual. In our society we are free to choose our paths to wisdom. Let freedom reign and inspire.

The Direction of Love

The Talmud teaches, "A parent's love is for his or her children; the children's love is for their own children." (Babylonian Talmud, Sotah, 49a) Are we really comfortable with the notion that our children will pay our love forward? Doesn't this concept evoke every parent's fear of eventual irrelevance and relegation to the crumbling world of the past?

A beautiful story tells of a bird who crosses a windy sea with each of it's three children. One by one, the first two children beg of the father bird not to drop them to their deaths. "Only deliver me to safety and when you are old I shall do everything you ask of me!" they implore. The first two fledgling birds fall to their deaths. Only the third is carried across the sea to safety. Her words to her father are, "My dear father, it is true you are struggling mightily and risking your life in my behalf, and I shall be wrong not to repay you when you are old, but I cannot bind myself. This, though, I can promise: when I am grown up and have children of my own, I shall do as much for them as you have done for me." (taken from Glueckel of Hameln (1645-1724) Memoirs).

Glueckel of Hameln was the mother of twelve children. She completed her memoirs at the behest of her children.

New Years Eve 2007

It is the six o'clock on the last evening of 2007. An hour ago we watched the last sunset of 2007 over the Pacific from the bluffs of Solana Beach, just north of San Diego.

What will 2008 bring? Will it be a year that lives up to the e-greetings and holiday cards that passed between so many of us? Perhaps it will. Perhaps this will be a Hallmark year. Perhaps instead waiting to behold our fortunes and misfortunes in 2008, we may resolve to create a year of greater peace, greater generosity and greater awareness of blessing. All of these are within our realm of creation.

Wishing you a year of blessed creation.

The Jewish Question

The phrase the Jewish question originated in the writings of Karl Marx. It referred to the issue of Jewish integration into European culture. It was not in itself a derogatory phrase but rather a question concerned with assimilation and integration. The Nazis more famously bastardized the phrase to mean, what should be done about the Jews? History tells us the "final solution" was the Nazi's answer to that question. Today though, it might be wise to invest interest in a new Jewish question because our spiritual survival might depend on it. Today, the Jewish question might aptly be asked by the Jew who wonders whether a synagogue service in any language bears any relevance to his or her daily life. Many synagogues today are suffering because they are failing to provide a meaningful answer to the Jewish question. They are relying on the power of obligation, guilt or some undetermined predilection to ensure that Jews remain Jewish and engaged in the process of inquiery. Perhaps on this, the penultimate night of Chanukah, or dedication, as it translates, we can dedicate time to our Jewish question(s) and to seeking satisfactory answers.

Shabbat Posting - Dec. 7, 2007

Last night we had a visit from a dear friend and her four year old son. Earlier in the week, someone had entered her apartment while she and her boy were outside playing. The intruder stole her son's two wrapped Chanukah gifts and a video camera. Ironically, other items of greater monetary value were left untouched in what must have been a speedy robbery. Our friend, who writes for a wonderful children's website, gocitykids.com, (highly recommended) emailed her colleagues across the country in her anger and upset over the stolen items. Before the sun had set on that same day, the UPS delivery man was at the door with children's gifts. My friend's colleagues from across the country whom she had never met arranged for her boy to receive gifts at Chanukah. Moreover, they sent an email asking our friend to choose from either a selection of video cameras or a virtually endless supply of children's books from Barnes & Noble.

Last night we lit the third candle and sang two blessings. The second one praises G-d who "made miracles in their days (of the Maccabees) and in our days." Who says that miracles great enough to bring tears of joy to our eyes do not still occur everyday?

Shabbat Posting - Nov. 30, 2007

At a funeral yesterday, the wife of the deceased paid loving and eloquent tribute to her departed husband. She said, "Kurt taught me that so much of life is decided by what we permit ourselves to see." What a gem. What a simple and beautiful truth. Jeannie could have simply pointed out that life depends on our perspective but that would have led us to believe that vision depends more on the eye or the stance than the mind and the choice. When Kurt's son spoke yesterday, he recalled the painful moment in his early adulthood in which he told his parents that he was gay. He expected his father to shut down or to well up with anger but instead, after some silence, his dad said, "Well, I don't know much about that... so I suppose it's something I'll have to learn." Truly, life, happiness and love depend on what we permit ourselves to see.

Whose Life is It?

How much control do we have over the quality of our lives? A lot? Very little? Our marriage, professional success, retirement, family relationships, financial wherewithal? How much depends on our doing and on our daily and momentary choices? If we believe that most of our circumstances are beyond our control and influence then surely we live under the illusion of victimization. We are like the inexperienced chess player - always reacting to life's aggressive tactics. But if we accept another possible illusion - that our own thoughts and choices are immensely, immeasurably important, then we might find that life is quite different. We might see each relationship to person and matter as an opportunity for generosity, wisdom and fulfilment. We might then see how great a role our moods, attitudes and choices play in the course of our lives and in the realm of the lives of other people. We might possibly find the life that is our potential.

Video Coming to Our Website

Watch www.vosla.org for new additions. Videos of music and sermons from the High Holidays will be on-line soon.

Shabbat Posting - Nov. 24, 2007

Reb Nachman of Bratzlav taught, "You are wherever your thoughts are. Make sure your thoughts are where you want to be." How many books, DVDs and seminars have been sold on this elusive truth? Every wisdom tradition of value speaks to humanity of the power of thought and of our own potential to cause great and valuable change in our lives and in the lives of others. Shabbat Shalom.

Thanksgiving

It is the evening prior to Thanksgiving and I wish all of you a wonderful holiday in the company of family and friends.

Cast & Crew - Levinson, De Niro (with kippah), Tucci (with kippah), Willis (with hat)

How is it that all of the Italians got the kippot?

Only in Los Angeles... I was asked to perform the role of the rabbi in a new Barry Levinson movie, WHAT JUST HAPPENED? Here I am in the make-up trailer with two great guys and two great actors - Stanley Tucci and John Turturro. Also in the cast? Robert De Niro, Bruce Willis, Sean Penn...Who'd have thought?

Why a blog? At this point, it is a means of keeping a fun and interactive contact with congregants, colleagues and friends around the world. I will do my best to keep it interesting...

Shabbat with Gospel

It is the tenth year that I have experienced a Shabbat with Gospel Music at VOS and I have to say that this year's service was spectacular. I would estimate that we had around twelve hundred people in attendance. The Spirit Chorale of Los Angeles under the direction of yron Smith was spectacular. Each singer was a soloist in his/her own right. What a moving experience of Shabbat and gorgeous music.