Erev Sukkot, Central Synagogue | September 20, 2021

[Music] is [Music] shalom [Music] oh oh [Music] oh [Music] [Music] memory [Music] yes [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] a [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] i [Music] [Music] is [Music] me [Music] please [Music] is [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] me please [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] oh [Music] [Music] i [Music] [Music] oh guide my steps and help me find my way [Music] rock me in your arms and guide my steps and help me make this day a song of praise to you rock me in your arms and guide my steps [Music] [Music] oh [Music] from make this day [Music] i need your shirt [Music] and help me make this [Music] [Music] hush [Music] hello [Music] [Music] me [Music] i [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] i don't know [Music] [Music] oh [Music] me [Music] join me with your life [Music] [Music] oh [Music] slowness [Music] my name is andrew kaplan mandel i'm one of the rabbinic interns here and i am so honored to be leading with rabbi maurice salth and cantorial intern jenna mcmillan as well as our amazing central synagogue musicians dave strickland and yvonne barenboim we are so happy to be here it is monsieur it is the time of our rejoicing and we are commanded to do so because we have made it through the high holidays to this place where we can once again engage in the oneness of the universe and use our ancient rituals to do so we can build a sukkah we can sit in a sukkah we can eat in the sukkah we can lift up that etrogue and that lulav and we can the tem we are commanded to rejoice amidst all of the other emotions that i know that we're holding at this time and frankly it's easy to rejoice in a space like this a beautiful sanctuary with this incredible canopy so thank you to those who constructed that and thank you to our security team and our maintenance team for creating a space that's safe and beautiful for us to worship in i want to say hello both to the folks who are here in the sanctuary and i want to do the laura wave to our friends in the live stream and our neighbors that's right that's right and we have to thank our av team for making that all possible and as we just saying we have this of peace that we are asking to be spread over us and that extends to all of you and your homes uh out there as well we're going to begin our service now with the lighting of festive candles so i will invite laura to come and do us the honor [Music] i [Music] [Music] [Music] together [Music] is [Music] we are on page 130 in our special weekdays and festival prayer book which looks like just like the shabbat prayer book but it's not it is the weekdays and festivals prayer book if you're looking for it you can find it on our live streaming page at central synagogue.org we've arrived at baruch please rise if you're able [Music] i [Music] is [Music] please be seated on page 133 let's read the reading at the bottom of the page entitled on sukkot the colors of early evening sky blend and deepen allowing new lights to be seen twinkling through the branches the promise that in darkness new light will be revealed [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] we continue with ahavat olam on page 134. [Music] um [Music] time [Music] me [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] i [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] we're on page 142 about to sing almost all of our festivals have an agricultural narrative and connection and a torah narrative and connection so the agricultural connection to sukkot that's an easy one because sukkot is recognizing what the harvest the end of the the summer season and all the bounty that exists not only in israel but all and around the world the when the end of the summer season concludes if you've been to the local farmers markets around new york city they are just they're overflowing with the most incredible produce and we have on our our table a very large zucchini that we have no idea what to do with but we haven't because our cousin marcia said take the zucchini please so it's that time of year it's the harvest and these temporary booths these sukkot were built to uh allow for a little respite from the sun um in the fields of ancient times and even modern times okay so what's the what's the torah narrative connects to the sukkot say again they lived in booths our ancestors lived in booths on the journey temporary boots on the way to uh the land of israel these temporary you know trust structures maybe we have a little idea if any of those booths looked like this sukkah you can understand why the words is really a tent but still you know it could say sukkot yeah yeah how beautiful are you sukkot oh oh uh house of israel because uh oh it's just just breathtaking our sukkah here so yes the israelites lived in booths on the way to the land of israel and so that connects as well so as we sing this mikamoka you can imagine them after they exited through the sea they said to each other where are we going to live on the way and someone said aha how about so as they were singing the song they might have been thinking okay we better get our uh our accent over here we've got to figure out some temporary dwellings to live as we make our way into freedom let's sing michaela together [Music] oh [Music] who is [Music] who is [Music] oh [Music] who is [Music] [Applause] [Music] who is [Music] this is an offering adapted by rabbi paul kipnis great for this peaceful autumnal wonderland let's take a moment and turn inward and enjoy a few moments of guided meditation sit up as straight as you can close your book and close your eyes you at home as well i can see you now relax your hands placing them on your lap or put your fingertips together and feel the balance of pressure and now just breathe take a big breath in hold it and let it out again breathe in hold it and let it out now keep breathing and keep listening rabbi rachel biernblatt writes here's the thing the year begins anew even in the worst of times the leaves will turn and fall and then they'll grow again and sometimes we're afraid and we can't know what choice to make to keep anyone safe sometimes uncertainties of bear all we can do is seek out sweetness everywhere we may and work to fix what brokenness we find the good news is we're not in this alone we'll help each other hope when light seems dim and will lift the sparks that darker days reveal we'll love each other fiercely in the end there is no greater work that we can do we who survive will help each other through that's what kahilake dosha a holy community like ours does we remind each other that in the quiet of your mind not allowed repeat after me i know i'm not alone again silently in your mind repeat i know i'm not alone when i'm frustrated that our celebrations must be different smaller rescheduled or postponed say it in your mind with me i know i'm not alone when i worry about my children going back to school say it i know i'm not alone when i fear for my parents who now need a booster i know i'm not alone when i feel overwhelmed by even simple decisions like what to make for dinner or how dressed up to get i know i'm not alone when i am angered by the politicization of science and the pain this has caused i know i'm not alone when i cannot figure out if this cold requires a covid test i know i'm not alone when i feel bad because during lockdown i binge watched tv instead of learning to play guitar take a class exercise more or do something more productive i know i'm not alone when i remember that so many are less fortunate than me so even though we are in this together we are not equally in this together and i need to do more to help them i know i'm not alone when i'm sad because i feel like i've lost a year and a half of my life i know i'm not alone when struggling to make time to take care of myself whatever that means i know i'm not alone you are not alone we are all in this together and also remember not being alone doesn't mean it isn't frustrating and overwhelming and worrisome and scary it just means that we are not alone so feel that connection take strength from the community and remember the lessons of the shofar the sounds of the shofar parallel our experience what once was whole to kia became broken shivarim and sometimes shatters but ultimately it returns to wholeness to kia since we have transitioned from the season of shofar let's train ourselves to hear the call of the holy one in other ways sending us strength and hope and resilience calling to us to tell us that no i am not alone we are not alone we can get through this together please rise if you are able for on page 144 you can be seated [Music] i love [Music] oh [Music] my [Music] spread the shelter of your peace over us guide us in wisdom compassion [Music] save us for the sake of your name dead [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] and now we shall rise for the amidah [Music] i don't know [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] um [Music] um [Music] [Music] oh we continue silently with the prayers on the page or in your heart so [Music] oh guide my steps and help me find the way i need your shelter now rock me in your arms oh guide my steps and help me make this day a song of praise to you rock me in your arms and guide my steps [Music] and help me find the way [Music] and help me make this day a song of praise [Music] if having elijah come over on passover means an extra glass of wine you might need an extra carafe or two for all of the biblical visitors during sukkot throughout this festival it is a special custom to welcome in our ancestors abraham sarah miriam king david and others as ushbizin aramaic for visitors or guests while we tend to think of the sukkot as the booths that the israelites built after the exodus at least one ancient source says that the first sukkah was the tent that abraham and sarah built and welcomed strangers in and we in turn strive to build one worthy of their example and of their visit what happens when you invite visitors into your home what happens when you invite ancestors into your home this summer some of you know that i embarked on an amazing adventure the rabbit hole that is ancestry.com oh yes i have trudged through cemeteries to photograph tombstones i have gotten lost in the microfilm of the new york city archives on chamber street downtown i have gone through census records and birth certificates and marriage licenses and ship manifests i have stalked people on facebook explaining that i'm a rabbinical student doing family history research i sadly have no fortune to offer you and i'm not looking for any money i just want to know if francis levinson is your great grandmother once you find people you of course look for family traits wow our great grandparents look alike do you also have a history of cancer in your family do we vote the same way or is that a touchy what you discover when you peel back the years can be revealing you discover names of people and of towns we always thought that my last name mandel was originally mandelowitz almond wits meaning sun so son of a nut now i know that it was actually mendelewitz meaning son of mendel and i found mendel's records in romanian archives and our family history and honor is restored i now have a map of all of the cities and shtetls where my eight great-grandparents were from as far north as present-day lithuania and as for south as romania at a time when so much feels unmoored it can be anchoring to know that you come from a people and a place you also discover resilience i learned that one relative carol lost her husband when they both were exposed to nuclear fallout during an atomic test gone wrong in nevada in the 1950s carol's daughter judy also lost her husband as well as both of her children in a terrible boating accident horrific after her tragedy carol went back to library school and became known as the original google in the la county library since her catastrophe judy has learned healing through glassblowing in portland and has started a foundation for maritime safety at a time of vulnerability it's a privilege to know that you come from people who put one foot in front of another you also discover the shoulders you stand on my great grandfather was a baker in the bronx his daughter was a secretary his granddaughter was the first to go to college and his great grandson well i am here with all of you at a time of harvest it's important to know that what we have is not simply the product of our own doing you also discover linked arms i couldn't understand why i found my great great grandfather sam in the census records living as a border in his seventies in someone else's apartment until i realized that his daughter dora married a wasserman i found dora wasserman and her husband and their kids and their two grandsons all living across the hall from sam in the same building the wasserman stuffed the relatives so tightly in one apartment that they needed a room next door to fit great grandpa at a time of unpredictability it's comforting to be reminded how people are capable of watching out for each other you discover answers we didn't know much about my great-grandfather isadore it turns out he lived with his first cousin harry when he first came to america it turns out that two of harry's children became the 1971 nobel prize winner in economics and a professor at the wharton school of business his grandson served as treasury secretary we come from a family of economists my brother is a math genius who works in finance and none of us could really ever follow his explanations of his job and now we have relatives who can understand what he does at a time of confusion it's useful to be able to connect the dots you also discover more questions my great great grandmother sarah lived in new york in 1905 but she disappears from the records by 1910 did she go back to a village near kavanaugh did she remarry did she die at a young age some of you have even more questions because you may not have had the privilege of pursuing genealogy you may be adopted and do not know your birth family your family may have been completely wiped out by the holocaust or they were enslaved history erased perhaps that is why we traditionally reach back to the hebrew bible instead of our own individual family trees for the ushbizin we invite into the sukkah to focus on our shared story because the torah tells us we come from a people and a place from people who put one foot in front of another that what we have is not simply the result of our own doing that people are capable of watching out for one another that if we look for meaning we can start to connect the dots to tell you the truth all this genealogy work is fascinating but the care and concern that i suddenly feel for my newly discovered relatives yesterday strangers today mishpochah family is both beautifully understandable and somewhat arbitrary in some ways genealogy is just a rehearsal for the way we ought to treat as many people as we can there is something special about being part of a tribe and i wonder what would happen if we looked at the person across the shopping aisle or on the sidewalk and thought we're related the talmud teaches that that's why the torah begins with adam as opposed to abraham so that no person can say that their ancestors were better than someone else's when we invite our ancestors into our homes we start to internalize how we are all connected to one another like those colorful paper chains that adorn many asuka that we didn't get here alone and that we can't leave others behind i think that's the message of this holiday where we are instructed that we only need three walls so that there can be an opening for others maimonides taught that anyone who sits comfortably with their family within their own walls but does not share with those in need is performing a mitzvah not for joy but for the stomach if you know people who have lost a partner or their parents people not originally from the area where you live they may not have a regular place to go for shabbat dinner right after this service drop them a note and extend an invitation if not for an indoor gathering because of covid then for a picnic in the park or for a meal on zoom make room in your sukkah in your home in your life for as many guests as you can fit if the wasserman's were able to house nine people in their apartment on brook avenue in the bronx we can set another table at a place at our table today we now are able to enjoy the ritual of the lulav and the etrog i have this special message from the american jewish world service a midrash and vayikra rabba seeks to unearth deeper meaning in these four species with pairing them with a part of our body as we reflect on this and shake the four species in service to god we are reminded of the importance of using our bodies in service to humankind the hadas a bow from the myrtle tree represents the human eye as we wave it in front of us let us break down the barriers that we have erected so that we may begin to truly see and recognize the suffering of others the ahava a leafy branch from the willow tree represents the human mouth as we wave it as our at our sides let us locate our voices loud and strong so that we may speak out against inequity of all kinds the lu love a frond from a date palm represents the human spine as we wave it high let us draw on our strength and resilience and stand tall together against oppression the etrog a fruit from the citroen tree represents the human heart as we wave it low let us reach into the wellspring of our compassion so that we may open our hearts to all the inhabitants of our world and as we join four species together in our hands let us unite as a community and use our collective vision voice power and compassion to confront injustice jenna will lead us in the blessing and the blessing can be found on page 307 if you'd like to follow along [Music] love [Music] all right and with that we have uh we shook the lulav and uh now we are moving on to um a very special part of our service hallel so each festival we have our order of service gives uh gets a bit larger as we include a section of psalms which are meant to increase our joy and our praise of god during these joyous times for rosh hashanah and yom kippur which we've just experienced hello is not included due to the heaviness of everyone's fate hanging in the balance as our names are hopefully written into the book of life for the new year this time of sukkot is called zman time of our rejoicing so it's even more appropriate that we would express our joy through song on this day and we will begin chanting halal with a blessing on page 294. [Music] my [Music] so page 298 [Music] is [Music] is [Music] i [Music] [Music] 303. [Music] peter [Music] pete is [Music] i [Music] [Music] he's [Laughter] [Music] a day and we now rise as a community for our concluding prayers starting with page 322 alainu [Music] [Music] um [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] please remain standing if you are able in the presence of this sukhot shlomeka we invoke the memories of those that we have loved and lost if you are marking a period of mourning seven days 30 days a year or this is the anniversary of a loved one i invite you to share their name as i share my hand around the congregation we turn to the words of the mourner's kaddish which can be found on page 334. amen [Music] oh [Music] and we turn now to page 122 the words to the festival kidus can be found there i just need to grab the kiddish cup you know what you're getting that i was just looking at the beautiful cup and i was reminded of one of the great hebrew words that is connected to the sukkah and that is the the um vegetation that's on top of the sukkah do you know what we call the vegetation on top of the sukkah it's pronounced which i i i'm just going to encourage you to try to say that it's like s-k-a-c-h you're like that's right i can barely say it but it's there's something joyous about just saying it and uh it's like pop rocks and this kid is add to that joy baruch hey [Music] [Music] [Music] we hope that your sukkot holiday is filled with sustenance not only the meals you may eat within your sukkah but that you may have sustenance of the soul as you begin this new year of 5782 surrounded by the warm hug of this community and we conclude with our tradition of singing uh turn turn turn written by pete seeger using words from the book of cohelet these words tell us that for everything there is a season as we go on turning it's page 400. [Music] to everything [Music] [Applause] [Music] we [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] to every purpose [Music] ten ten [Music] [Applause] [Music] under heaven a time of hate a time of war a time of peace embracing to everything [Applause] there is [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] i swear it's not too late [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] every purpose [Music] so [Music] you

Channel: Central Synagogue

Views: 5,919

Rating: 4.9681277 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: AKJr1N0x1Ts

Length: 75min 13sec (4513 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 20 2021