Saturday Morning Services, Central Synagogue - May 8th, 2021

guitar in my ear please [Music] that means let us sing together [Music] [Music] [Music] yo we're so glad to be together here in midtown manhattan in the sanctuary of central synagogue and wherever you are joining us if you are not with us right now in the sanctuary i'm rabbi mo salt so pleased and honored to be leading the service with cantor julia cadrain and our wonderful musicians and we have another leader of our service today olivia we're going to put you on the screen you can give a wave next to your family here and your friends that have joined us in the sanctuary we're so thrilled for this day where you will become bat mitzvah and olivia i think you uh you might have felt on this brisk spring morning a little raindrops coming to you as uh coming from the sky i don't know if you know this but in our tradition rain is a sign of tremendous fortune because our ancients they needed rain a little bit more than we do in new york so i felt coming to service today oh gosh how lucky she has a little rain this morning on this day and mostly how lucky we are to have you co-leading the service you'll be on the bema shortly and uh we're also lucky because uh we get to be led by canada julia cadrain this morning this is uh the final shabbat shall be leading services with us for uh morning worship in kenner uh we're so happy uh that you'll be doing so and uh we're just gonna take it every minute away it's been very normal this morning getting ready and and such and then and then all of a sudden i'm like oh this is it this is one of those special shabbat so we're going to try to take it all in canter uh this morning with you me too rabbi thank you for that i'm gonna invite you uh canada we're gonna help us with the worship yes yes we're gonna continue on page 108 with a call to prayer and we invite you to rise in body or in spirit [Music] i [Music] please be seated we continue on page 114. shimmer is [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] page 122 our song of freedom [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] we turn to page 124 and we rise in body or in spirit [Music] my my lips let my mouth we continue with a few moments of quiet reflection and prayer we invite you to either remain standing or be seated as you're comfortable [Music] uh [Music] h [Music] i don't know [Music] leave [Music] and the meditation [Music] of my heart be acceptable to you i don't know [Music] you [Music] [Music] i [Music] let go we're now at the point of the service where we'll be soon reading from the torah olivia i'll invite you you can take off your mask and open to the first page of your book and read this introductory poem the light of torah shines forth from zion adonai's teachings flow from jerusalem this scroll has nurtured our people from sinai to today it teaches us love and justice hope and peace [Applause] [Music] oh i know uh how special day this is for your family and we're so privileged now to have a chance to hear from your sister and your parents as they're going to share some words with you my sister is my best friend we will always love each other we'll always be there for each other and have enjoyed each other's company for a very long time olivia is sweet kind funny studious and intelligent she likes to pull tricks on me too we like to play board games sometimes draw and when we were younger we did almost everything together as we grew older we started liking different things but we still do some things together but when we have to share a room that doesn't always work out when kobe's struck it brought us closer we bonded over things like gaming our new dog skiing and tv shows we watched we both chased chess joined the yard we skied together on the same runs and even though we were bad at compromising we still gamed and watched tv as i've watched her prepare for her bot mitzvah i've observed all her hard work thoroughness and long hours in her bat cave room she's inspired me with her dedication and i hope to be more like her in some ways i hope that today on her bat mitzvah that she will look back and see all the amazing things she's done in the past oh lavia i hope you have an amazing bat mitzvah i love you words to your sister i invite you to step down off that and push that block a little bit more center for later when uh olivia you'll use it and now i'll invite your parents to share some words with you good morning first a very heartfelt thank you to rabbi mo cantor kedrain you will be very much missed here and also a thank you to central's wider community of educators we thank you for your guidance and for the time and care that you've committed to olivia's preparation a special thank you also goes out to cantor ellen dreschen and the lclj program that brings to us jewish learning in a family setting a warm welcome today and thank you to our family and friends most of whom are joining us virtually through the live stream please know that we do feel your presence here and we are grateful for your time today and your love and support always olivia your bar mitzvah provides for our family a meaningful way of marking this sacred time in your life and in our lives as a family your jewish learning journey has given us the opportunity to learn alongside you and we thank you for enriching our lives this way according to jewish tradition upon becoming a bat mitzvah you are a full-fledged member of the jewish community and you are morally and ethically responsible for your decisions and your actions and while it may seem that you're young for that i respectfully submit that you are ready your strong moral compass your internal foundation of justice and your understanding of your role as a citizen of this world is already in place as you get older and you gain life experience these attributes will dig deeper roots in your constitution and your ability to affect your actions in the world will grow with you but make no mistake sweetie you are already capable and you already make the world a better place remember when you were eight years old sorry and you donated your birthday instead of getting gifts for yourself you wanted to bring clean water to remote places in africa that was just the beginning and your spirit of empathy and giving has just grown and we're so proud of you for that it is tradition also that your parents pass along a ritual object to you something of jewish importance something that's handed down from the generations but those are material items and you will acquire those in your life our mezuzah our kiddish cup our shabbat candlesticks instead today however your father and i thought it would be more powerful to remind you of a gift that you already possess it is a gift from which you have already drawn and has historically been the source of the jewish people's survival and their ability to thrive it is the gift of resistance the refusal to accept or comply with what you know to be morally wrong it is the strength to speak up when you know that it is not the popular position but that it is the right one it is the gift that compels you to stand up when you know that there is hate or oppression or injustice or ignorance using that gift is not always easy you learned that recently when you spoke up on a complex matter of social justice you were afraid to speak and yet you spoke up we are so proud of you for that olivia for speaking up for speaking up and for standing up there are some difficult conversations going on now in our schools in our governments and in our places of worship and it is important for you to use your voice to be an advocate and to work to repair the world in the most equitable of ways and olivia please know that you are supported by your family by your friends and by your greater jewish community olivia thank you and congratulations on becoming about mitzvah today we are so proud of you thank you for taking this most important step in renewing our family's covenant with judaism you're a mensch so worthy of becoming a bad mitzvah and so humble you don't truly you truly don't understand the role model you've become you're a loving and loyal daughter granddaughter niece and a great older sister well most of the time to your younger sister victoria and to our puppy chester like your jewish four mothers you inspire all of us watching you grow up has been a delight and taught us and me a great deal i am now the father of two daughters not god's revenge as some have said but rather his blessing you've taught us a great deal about humanity ingenuity curiosity determination and self-sufficiency and you've touched so many others who've known you as one of our dear family friends said earlier this week how charming and luminescent was olivia as a young girl you survived and even thrived in a very difficult year in this your bot mitzvah year you've had to keep your wits about you through an ongoing global pandemic a strict family quarantine and a stifling virtual school for the two first trimester terms we're sorry that you had to do it without being able to be with your close circle of friends many of whom are here with us today and our extended family all of whom mean so much to you but your spirit has remained buoyant and your will as strong as ever your vision focused on growing up as quickly as possible and after our winter term in utah in which you set and achieved your goal of skiing 100 days and racing successfully against utah kids who've been skiing all their lives as an independent skier without any coaching or training i am proud to proclaim to this community that you at age 13 are now are now the top-ranked skier in the meyer family olivia you are brave intelligent loving you're funny and you're such a pleasure to be with i love your peppa pig impressions you crack me up with your voices and you challenge us with your questions you also have a business side where you invest wholeheartedly in what you undertake your skiing the spelling bee your class rep position volleyball your schoolwork those are just a few examples your quiet confidence and your hard work are hallmarks of your successes and your ability to rise to the occasion of pressure-filled moments with such grace and poise as you have is so inspiring and it reminds daddy and me that the future is in good hands with you my sweetie thank you for those beautiful beautiful and powerful world words miraldina and tony all right olivia i'm going to invite you to introduce the torah portion of reading today and aliot all our aliyot are joining us virtually so it's going to be extra special my torah portion is taken from parshat bahuko tai from book of leviticus chapter 26 verses 3 to 13. for my first aliyah i call upon my grandparents ed and sandy aunt and uncle megan paul and cousins david catherine and william praise the one to whom our phrase is due praise the lord our praises praise be the one our praises thank you he praise you praise you oh god give up give up a record all right so nice to hear that translation liz if you want to do the hebrew before as well we'll have you do that now [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] so lizzy we're going to have you do the blessing now and then for the second aliyah we're going to have meg and catherine do the hebrew but for now lizzie you can do the blessing after thank you [Music] and those who are doing the english translation of the first aliyah you can do that now we praise you eternal god oh all right full technological power maybe partial full power but you guys sound great and you look great can you introduce the second aliyah please olivia for my second dahlia i call upon my vomarta that means grandma in portuguese ntc and nick and cousins georgette and lizzy margaret meg and catherine do the blessing in hebrew beforehand and then we're going to hear the english so we'll start with you megan catherine uh-huh hello [Music] oh [Music] and we have family and loved ones doing the english translation of that blessing now it's um vomarta see nick and georgette by giving foreign praise [Music] [Music] we'll have megan catherine do the after blessing now please in hebrew [Music] [Music] nick and georgette do the english translation we praise jesus thank you so much for joining us using this technology it's so nice to have you in the sanctuary and now olivia i know the candor wants to share some words with you i do it's such a pleasure olivia to watch you shine and to have been with you on this journey and i am grateful now to be able to offer you the greatest honor we can ever give this will be the first time in your life that you receive this honor and that is to be called to the torah by your hebrew name you are so deserving of this you are strong and resilient kind and smart and amazing and i offer this honor to you in the spirit of pride for the person that you are about now olivia you'll chant that torah blessing [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] olivia with your help we have just completed a book of the torah the book of leviticus and we have a tradition of saying be strong and may we strengthen one another we say this whenever we finish a book of the torah and truly your strength helps us all to feel strong so i'll recite this and i'll invite you all to repeat after me all right incredible chanting olivia we're going to invite your parents and your sister to return to their seats we're going to um you can roll up the scroll and put in the center and take your book and uh introduce the hofstra portion and chant uh it for us this special morning the haftarah for this week is taken from the book of jeremiah i will be reading from chapter 17 verses 10 to 14. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] for that beautiful haftara chanting and olivia it's been my distinct privilege to meet with you to talk about this torah portion which you just chanted so magnificently it's a it's a challenging torah portion as we know because we spend a lot of time trying to figure out what is happening how it might apply to today and you've written and now you'll deliver a wonderful devotor please share it with us this torah portion comes from the book of leviticus after god has given the israelites the ten commandments it goes into more detail about the blessings if the israelites honor their bond with god and the punishments if they don't it takes place after aaron disobeyed moses and angered god by creating the golden calf in a split second of anger moses saw the golden calf and smashed the tablets upon which were inscribed the ten commandments believing that the israelites were no longer worthy of the commandments and such a close relationship with god in this parsha to ensure that israelites remained faithful to their covenant god proposed a system of punishment and rewards the punishments are extremely harsh and go on for over three times the length of the blessings a punishment that's particularly disturbing is that god says you shall eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters after reading this text i was very troubled isn't judaism supposed to be a peaceful religion with a benevolent god shouldn't god want to give the israelites only blessings because adonai is their protector i take a moment here to question god and his motives and actions as a reformed jew we are allowed even encouraged to wrestle with god in fact the name israel means to wrestle with god a sign of how important this practice is to the jewish religion to question and intellectually engage with with the torah its teachings and god but back to my torah portion god is saying that to our ancestors that actions have consequences this lesson of consequences for one's actions is very relevant in our society today but as we know god doesn't always appear in the ways the torah says to enforce his rules let me give a powerful example of an issue that's very important to my generation in particular climate change years ago when climate change was first discovered people were not concerned because it wasn't apparent that there would be consequences for their actions they thought that what they did to the planet wouldn't permanently hurt the earth others believed it wouldn't affect them personally as it wouldn't have much of an impact during their lifetime many years later these consequences are finally appearing and they are severe as the great barrier reef bleaches and the sahara desert expands as species go extinct and our world's forests are consumed as rising sea levels threaten our cities and weather patterns change unpredictably we're stuck feeling like bystanders with no way to undo the damage that has been done sadly the people who started harming the environment are not affected by their actions now we are on the brink of the point of no return and we have to reverse the effect of the past without god's punishments to deter further damage our only hope is to work together to revive the planet perhaps climate change is god's version of punishment on our way home from school every day we pass the climate clock in union square this clock fluctuates between showing the time left until the point of no return and the percentage of renewable energy that the us uses the last time we checked we have just under seven years to prevent climate change from becoming irreversible however i am hopeful and confident that this reversal is possible science tells us so and we must listen before i finish i'd like to say thank you to a few people thank you to my parents for being my number one supporters and helping me prepare for today thank you to my sister who always brings a smile to my face with their constant energy and enthusiasm to everyone who's presented in aliyah thank you for making the time to do so i know being on zoom is never preferred but it means a lot to me that you could be a part of this thank you to rabbi salt and kentucky drain for leading the service and helping me with my torah portion and var torah can't take a drain congratulations we wish you well in connecticut and we'll miss you thank you to cantor bruce my tutor for teaching me my torah portion in hoftarah standing here with a few special people in the sanctuary and so many more online is not how i initially imagined my bat mitzvah but in the era of kobe this might be the new normal to my family on zoom i wish you could be here to see how tall i am and i miss you so much however you are here and i'm happy we're all still together thank you for joining me on my special day and i'm honored that i get to share it with you because i wanted to just um [Music] to be able to see you deliver and you are tall you're taller than then you're just your height you're tall and your presence and in your wisdom you delivered a very sobering but also inspiring devartura which i know i personally have internalized and i know it's not just me to take care of our precious planet so we're so grateful to you for uh uplifting us for for helping us celebrate shabbat in the most exceptional of ways and i would like you to join your family back on the bema for a little celebration song of simmon tobin mazel tov as we recognize you on this day you become bat [Music] mitzvah [Music] oh [Music] is yes indeed uh loved ones in the sanctuary and loved ones around the world you know are celebrating and also just people who are part of our community from near and far um who are with us for shabbat we're all we're all really feeling quite uplifted this morning because of you and i would like to share some special words with you in front of our ark on this on this special morning we'll invite your family to return to your seats the congregation to please rise [Music] here with you beside me i feel so greatly blessed this moment means much more than i can say a time to be together a time for us to rest so god is here the time has come to celebrate the day so i hold you close my hands upon your head [Music] and from me to you my child these words [Music] may god give you life and strength [Music] [Applause] [Music] they are may god make you like our mothers like our blessed ones may god make you like our parents like our blessed ones [Music] we're about to recite the mourner's cottage prayer in preparation for that i share the names of dear ones whose presence is felt this morning from your family olivia ann dubin anna fernandez cosmero fernandez marva branch zoli zimmerman and william dinka and to these names i add dear ones that are part of this synagogue community who we are remembering this shabbat dear ones who have died within the past 30 days stanford abram lawrence aubry brenzel iris gare dan goldman alyssa epstein janie first edna gamson alex hochberg robert kalish miriam kleinfeld him david kirsch dan dan levine allen michael levy dorothy norris susan silverman shirley werther robert witt and lila zuckerman if you're observing you're at sight this shabbat or are saying kaddish for a loved one and you would like to say the name of your dear one aloud i'll invite you to do so at this time we turn to page 294 and rise if we're able for these sacred words of mourner's kaddish is olivia we're going to invite you and your parents and your sister back up to the bmw one more time we're going to close with a song of peace we feel such a sense of peace watching you take your place in our community with such grace and love and joy so we join together in this song [Music] oh [Music] [Music] is olivia with the echoes of our ancestors amongst us we heard your call to us to change and make a difference for our planet and i know those of us that heard it are going to do just that because we're inspired by you today inspired by this shabbat worship we wish you and everyone a shabbat shalom [Music] my [Music] so food [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] wow [Music] [Music] this [Music] any [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] yeshua [Music] [Music] [Music] from [Music] your answer came to me open [Music] space your hand reached out to me [Music] [Music] answer me [Music] answer me [Music] [Music] me [Music] who says [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] shalom [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] ice [Music] hello [Music] [Music] m [Music] [Music] i [Music] shine shabbat shalom we begin to settle in together and raise our voices together with the words havana shira sheer hallelujah that means let us sing together [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] shalom we're so thrilled to be together for shabbat morning here in new york it's a crisp even a little uh rainy morning but just a little bit of drizzle just to give us what our tradition would say would be a sense of the fortune that comes with a little rain i'm rabbi mo salth joined by cantor julia cadrain and our wonderful musicians who are downstairs we're still in uh careful co-wood protocol so some of us are up here distance mass some of us are downstairs distanced unmasked so that we make sure we continue to stay safe and we have another special co-leader for this service this morning and i'm so thrilled uh to see max in the congregation with his beautiful family max give us a wave just uh so everyone knows who you are and uh soon they'll really be able to see you because you'll be helping us with our service this morning and uh many of us know that our our our dear cantor cadrain is going to be taking the senior canter position in westport connecticut this is her final shot morning service with us our services with us and tanner we're we're just enjoying every note as we also just are present for shabbat worship i i'm thank you so much i'm so grateful to have this to have this time together and i want to invite us to continue with the call to prayer the bahu our way of saying we're here together we're ready to pray together that's on page 108 of your prayer books please rise [Music] [Music] please be seated we continue on page 114. [Music] [Music] yes [Music] they [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] uh [Music] m [Music] our song of freedom [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] page 124 we rise [Music] [Music] we continue with a few moments of quiet reflection and prayer we invite you to remain standing or be seated whatever is comfortable for you okay [Music] you [Music] [Music] may the words and the meditations of my heart [Music] be acceptable [Music] my rock and my redeemer [Music] be [Music] [Music] you know cantor i'm sitting on the bema just listening to that beautiful meditation and i'm just kind of getting lost in it and i'm like oh oh my gosh i have to do something after this beautiful tour time but it's so nice to hear you sing it and just to be able to enjoy those beautiful sounds and words thank you rabbi and it is time to enter the section of the service where we read from the torah and max i'm going to ask you to welcome us into this section by reading those words that are on the page in front of you the light of torah shines forth from zion adonai's teachings flow from jerusalem the scroll has nurtured our people from sinai to to today it teaches us love and justice hope and peace [Music] oh [Music] max we're going to take a moment to allow your sister and your parents to share some words on this special day that you become bar mitzvah so mackenzie we're going to start with you and turn a little bit towards your brother and max turns toward her so you can get a a good look at her she shares some words with you i have been max's little sister for over 10 years now i know all his little habits and how annoying he can be but max has always been there and supported me he walks me to school practices sports with me gives me good advice when needed and even makes me happy when i'm sad on this day i feel the most proud of max right now i'm overjoyed grateful and feeling lucky to be his sister especially at this moment but i always am thank you for being my big brother max i love you we're taking that all in mackenzie's so nice so i'll ask you now to let your mom stand in front of the mic you stand right next to her and let your your parents share some words with you this special morning max and again now turn turn towards them so you get the full ability to take it all in son ask you when right max you are my son my sunshine if i needed to i'd move mountains for you your kindness smile athleticism honesty silliness passion to succeed your determination to be successful at 13 years old is impressive everything you do you give your all today you work so hard to get here during these crazy times and i'm so proud of you we're all so proud of you since you were little we talked about doing the right thing remember bucket filling now becoming a bar mitzvah is reiterating how important this quality is that you have max i love you so much my dream for you is for your life to be meaningful fulfilling and so very happy i'm so excited to watch your journey max i love you max we we talked about how uh this is uh a time for emotion and uh and if if uh if we're lucky max we have people who love us so deeply like you have in your parents so uh so even though this is a little public again i'll just invite you to take it take it all in on april 9 2008 my life forever changed as max sullivan came into the world loud and cocky and ready to make his presence known well it's all good i'm good you told me you told me not to happen take your time all right i just said emotion is good emotion's good his namesake is from my grandmother mina and mommy's godfather her uncle michael and sullivan which reminded katie and me of his irish roots and my pop-up sam sorry it's okay take a deep breath and continue when you're ready it's good it's very speaking of max today i can't help but think of his kind demeanor everyone often compliments me about what a smart and thoughtful boy he is max silly like me but with boundaries he's smart like me but does better in school than i ever did he's the athlete i always wished i was and this makes me so proud he's so accomplished by 13 years old that's my last cry all right here we go max brings people together he includes everyone who looks out for his friends and cousins he's also an athlete he's competent strong he plays hard and with his heart max i wish you to stay competitive but not to be too hard on yourself to enjoy the games and continue to lead your teams but to always stay a tea player and to enjoy yourself mom and i love i can't even see him crying like hits my my tears are blurring mom and i have mom and i love watching as a big brother for mackenzie you amaze us how you look after and even though you drive each other crazy and daily bicker we know you each other have each other's backs kenzie and max you're so lucky to have each other back on max congrats on becoming a bar mitzvah today never forget who you are always reach for the stars that was his grandma's cheesy line embrace life be kind and live every day to the fullest thank you to our family here watching and of course our friends and family watching on screens at home it means so much to katie me having you be a part of max's special day i love you man katie and rob thank you so much for those tender words you were you were not the only ones crying uh today so i'm going to come and help set up the tour so we can go into the tourist service my torah portion is taken from the parshat huko tie from the book leviticus chapter 26 verses 18-28 for my first aliyah i call upon my aunt lisa my uncle matt and my cousin jacob and come henry the blessings for the torah right next to rob i should now you can stand there but you actually can stand next to katie to give them some space to come right up george and when you're ready you can do the blessing before the torah yep [Music] [Music] [Music] imperio [Music] such nice job max and mazel tov to your family joined you you can give them a squeeze and once you get a congratulations from uh everyone i'll invite you to return to your seats max can you call the second elia please i call upon my grandma and pop-up trudy and marty um [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] him [Music] [Music] so nice max and give your beautiful grandparents a hug and everyone who's on the podium can return to their seats except for max um we have one more section of uh mazel tov to you and max the i know the canner wants to share some words with you before you chant the blessing max you're doing such an amazing job it is not a small thing to do what you're doing to stand up there without a rabbi or a cantor right next to you and to chant words of torah and you are doing it so beautifully we are so proud of you and it's a pleasure now to give you the greatest honor that we can ever give for the first time in your life you'll be called to the torah by your hebrew name [Music] now you'll chant that blessing please [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] it's traditional when we finish a book of the torah which max you just helped us to do we finished the book of leviticus we recite these words together be strong and may we strengthen one another max we draw strength from your inspiration as we recite these words [Music] i agree with the counter max you definitely give us strength and we're so happy that we'll have a chance now to hear you introduce and chant the haftarah portion for this week is taken from the book of jeremiah i'll be reading chapter 16 verses 19 through 20. uzi [Music] [Music] all right well max um you and i had well i had the privilege to study with you you and i studied this this torah portion that you just chanted so impressively and it wasn't uh it wasn't such a um simple portion there's lots of complexity in it and uh i really enjoy just being able to look at it and discuss it and explore it and um and now you're prepared after all that work uh a teaching for us so invite you to to uh share it with us now nice and slow as you uh as you look at us and let us know what you think this torah portion is all about a long time ago in a land far away mount sinai god speaks to moses and his people god says if the people of israel keep their covenant and obey the laws of his torah they will be rewarded with peace and tranquility in the land but if they defy the divine will they would be punished with terrible curses the torah speaks briefly about the rewards rain and its seasons plentiful crops and all the good things any farming people could ask for but if the people of israel do not oman and remain hostile the god will smite the people for their sins with the frightening curses fever disease soars barren land wild beasts and starvation in a direct and shocking way god spilled out the confident blessings for obedience and the curses for disobedience the idea that destruction of curses is twice as large as the sections of blessings is interesting to me i believe this speaks to the human nature people seem to be more motivated by the fears and threats than by the promise of blessings was this god's thinking too when god threatens double the punishments in this portion yes many of you know that i love sports most of all i love playing baseball and basketball this portion makes me think of players who have followed the rules and behaved well and received many rewards and those who have not derek jr example of a good person who worked really hard at his profession he was sucked to be only one of the 11 captains in the history of the entire franchise because he modeled what a meant to be an exceptional leader when he retired he was elected to the hall of fame and link has decided no one else would ever wear his number people still talk about the greatness of number two in contrast mark maguire had the time to be great honest baseball player however he took illegal storage and that was not the right thing to do he therefore never made it to the baseball hall of fame because of his wrong choices i don't think god was rewarding or punishing these players i think the torah used god as motivation to our ancestors to help them do the right thing my parents have instituted me no matter what the consequences whether good or bad positive or negative to always do the right thing i want to be a teammate that can be counted on and support my fellow players a friend who lifts my teammates up especially when they are down at home i want to be responsible and helpful member of the family and be there for my sister and my parents i would like to thank rabbi south kansa kadrine and my tutor general mark for their encouragement patience and teachings thank you to all my grandparents who are always there for me and are with me today thank you to my sister mckenzie for staying in my room and not bothering me when i practice for this special day i know how hard this was for you mackenzie and of course my parents who showed me love understanding and guidance without them none of this would be possible i don't say it enough or showed enough but thank you for everything i love you max i'm sitting here in the congregation and i just am so moved by you i just it's so great to uh to hear you uh teach torah and uh and talk about uh sports you and i both love sports and um and uh and and mostly to talk about your family and the type of person you want to be you inspire me to uh to do that too and i'm really just uh normally i'll get out of my seat i'll go back to my spot but i'm just i'm just taking it all in next because you are something else it's like uh you're the mvp of the shabbat morning service uh this morning as you uh as you're just um such a genuine soul and we we really are are so grateful for your teaching and for all your hard work and for you lifting us up this morning and so we have a song of celebration it's simuntov and mazel tov i'll invite your parents and your sister to come back up with you and all of us to rise as we celebrate this special morning for you and your family [Music] [Applause] [Music] is terrific so max now i'll have a chance to speak some words privately in front of the ark to you so i ask you to put your mess back on your family can return to their seats and you'll meet me at the ark here with you beside me i feel so greatly blessed this moment means much more than i can say [Music] a time to be together a time for us is here the time has come to celebrate the day so i hold you close my hands upon your head and from me to you my child these words may god give you life and strength [Music] may god make you like our our mothers ones may god make you like our parents like a blessed one [Music] we're entering the section of our service where we remember loved ones who are no longer with us from our synagogue community we read the names of dear ones who have died in the past 30 days stanford abram lawrence aubry brenzell iris scare dan goldman alyssa epstein janie first edna gamson alex hochberg robert kalish miriam kleinfeld hi i'm david kirsch dan levine alan michael levy dorothy norris susan silverman shirley werther robert witt and lila zuckerman and if you are remembering someone today or you are recognizing that you're at sight i'll invite you to say their name aloud at this time we turn to page 294 to recite these sacred words kadisha tome mortar's kaddish shame is max we'd love to invite you and your family back up to the bhima for one last song of celebration and gratitude jose shalom is a song for peace we all feel a sense of peace watching you take your place in our community in such a beautiful and strong way [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] max you've helped us to keep our eye on the ball of what's most important and to help celebrate this beautiful shabbat morning thank you for that shabbat shalom [Music] everyone [Music] hmm [Music] uh [Music] [Music] in [Music] turn [Music] [Music] me [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] me [Music] lower [Music] oh [Music] the [Music] foreign and raise me up to a world of living safe from the storm in the shelter of your shalom and know all of your ways and wisdom [Music] oh [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] oh [Music] more [Music] we remain standing turning to page 28 for our call to worship [Music] [Music] [Music] la [Music] ah [Music] oh [Music] my [Music] i [Music] oh [Music] me [Music] m [Music] my [Music] me [Music] foreign [Music] oh [Music] me [Music] me [Music] my [Music] oh uh in the rising of the sun we remember in the blowing of the wind we remember in the opening of bugs we remember [Music] [Music] in remember rustling of the leaves [Music] [Music] when we're lost and sick at heart we remember when we've joys we yearn to share we remember we remember [Music] long as we live they too shall live [Music] as we remember we remember we remember we remember so [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] my [Music] 99 [Music] is [Music] shabbat shalom and welcome we begin with these words hallelujah that means let us sing together please join us [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] no doubt hallelujah is the right word for this moment for it is shabbat and it is also the day when we're celebrating one of our most beautiful students becoming bar mitzvah good morning i'm rabbi mo salt joined by my friend and colleague kendra julia cadrain this is uh kendra katrine's penultimate service as our cantor here at the synagogue and julia um we love you and we love hearing your voice and we love being here on shabbat with you and we're just we're taking it all in me too rabbi right before the service started we got to greet our co-leader for this morning service brett can we just put the camera on brett if you can wave for a second he's sitting next to his beautiful family brett um and i shared this bema many a time when he was in nursery school here i don't embarrass you bret but we would sit on the bema with your classmates and your teachers and we would we would talk about our tradition and our um teachings and and we even we even had you stand up on a box and look over the podium at the torah and um and today uh not only will you be seeing it but you will be chanting from it and uh i can only begin to share with you how much pride myself and the canner and our synagogue has to see you reach this milestone we're really thrilled to have you helping us lead the service this morning with us so in just about everyone we know we have i see beautiful friends from the synagogue in our congregation we're so glad to see you to you and other guests and family as well and we know there's so many joining us through our live streaming so we just encourage you to to sit back and enjoy this beautiful shabbat morning together with us if you'd like to follow along in a prayer book you can find it on our website on our central synagogue.org website on our live streaming page our prayer book is there so we're going to continue with some opening prayers this special morning so we're moving to page 108 of our prayer book for the baraku the call to prayer our way of saying we're here together and we invite you to rise in body or in [Music] spirit [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] please be seated we continue with the shema on page 114 shimmer yes [Music] [Music] [Music] um [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] then we turn to page 122 for our song of [Music] freedom [Music] [Music] i [Music] page 124 please rise [Music] my [Music] [Applause] [Music] your praise we continue with a few moments of personal reflection and prayer you can either be seated or remain standing as you're comfortable [Music] [Music] [Music] me [Music] i [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] of my heart be acceptable to you i don't know [Music] my rock and my redeemer [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] let go brett i'm going to invite you and your parents to come to the bema for this opening section of the seder creator you and your parents can come up you can take your mass off for we are entering the section of the service where we will be reading from the torah soon and so brett on that first page i'll ask you to read that poem to help us begin this part of the service the light of taurus shines forth from zion adonai's teachings flow from jerusalem this scroll has nurtured our people from sinai to today it teaches us love and justice hope and [Music] [Applause] peace [Music] oh [Music] on this special morning we're going to have you stand on the bema with your parents and your grandparents that are able to be here and we're going to pass this tour into your arms so i'll put ask you to put your mask back on for the grandparents that are here i'm going to invite you to put your mask on to you and come up to the bema okay so brett we'll have you stand right here and then your parents next to you and your grandfather next to them now there was a time until only a few days ago when we couldn't actually perform this ritual and it's so special that i have i have not done it myself until right now for over a year and i could not think of a more powerful opportunity to speak to you and your beautiful family since i've been so lucky to know you for many many years and we're going to pass this tour into arms it's a symbolic passing because we also know that there's been a literal passing of torah from your family from generation to generation for your your entire life and they've taught you the heart of what is in this tradition how to be good how to be kind how to be caring how to take care of yourself and and others and there's one teaching in this tradition of ours that i like particularly it's of a rabbi named hillel who two thousand years ago someone who wasn't jewish came to him and said i would say in a bit of a maybe uh a um challenging way teach me everything he said rabbi that's in this scroll and i'll think about studying to become jewish myself and instead of rabbi hillel telling this young man you know get away from me i don't have time for you like you know be more polite he he said oh um i i forgot that this this young man challenged him to to do it while standing on one leg that's maybe as much as as a challenging i think so rabbi hello he actually stood in one leg and he said what is hateful to you do not do to anyone else that is the entirety of the torah all the rest is commentary and the young man was stunned by the rabbi's simple and profound response and and said in a very serious way where do i sign up for your for your school um well you've been part of that school your whole life and you know what's right and you have this beautiful foundation connected to this tradition and so it's with great love that i invite your grandfather i know your grandmother is also watching us on zoom she's represented in this line as well as your grandparents who unfortunately are no longer alive and all the generations that come and came before them as we pass the scroll to you with so much [Music] a love and you're a blessing you are history in song you are hopeless and you are healing you are learning to be strong [Music] okay brett i'm going to invite you to uh introduce the section of the tour you're reading from my torah portion is taking from parashat bihar because from the book of leviticus chapter 26 verses 18 through 28. for my first aliyah i call upon my mom and dad janine and peter and my two older sisters morgan and sabrina now that we're done passing the tour you can take off your mess if you're on the podium invite your beautiful sisters to join you and your parents and your grandfather for this first aliyah morgan you can take your mask off too you can just go on the other side of brett so you can see the blessing unless you can can you see it from there morgan all right the blessing beforehand you guys go first the bar [Music] um [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] and now your family's going to do the blessing after [Music] all right brett can you introduce the second alia please second olly i call upon my grandfather jim and my grandmother phyllis it's just switch position so your grandfather will be on your right your grandmother's going to be on the screen and your family's going to just be to your left there [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] we didn't actually see your grandmother on the screen i'm sorry if about any technical difficulty on our end but we know that she's with you here today and cheering you on and uh and we all are because you are you're doing such a nice job so you can give you can step down you can get a hug from everyone um and then you can return to your seats and after you get a hug from your family um i know the cantor wants to share some words with you brett you're doing so well brett it's so amazing to watch you rise to the challenge of becoming bar mitzvah it is really an enormous achievement and takes such strength and courage to stand up at the torah without a rabbi or a cantor right by your side and the truth is you don't need us you are amazing all on your own and so deserving of the honor you're about to receive which is to be called to the torah by your hebrew name for the first time ever and i offer you this honor on behalf of our whole community and congregation in the spirit of appreciation for the strong and smart funny kind of person that you are [Music] a now you'll chant the blessing for us [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] do the blessing afterwards [Music] [Music] [Music] the candy wants to say something about the fact that this is the last torah portion in leviticus and then i want you to say what you're going to say brett you with your help we've just finished the reading of the book of leviticus and we have a tradition of chanting when we finish a book of the torah that means be strong and may we strengthen one another and we draw strength from you brett and what you have shared with us today so we join in this cadrain for helping me along my journey to become a bar mitzvah this is her last bar mitzvah at central synagogue so i wanted to thank her for her hard work and wish her the best of luck on her journey now the haftar offer this week is taken from the book of jeremiah i will be reading from chapter 16 verses 19 through 21. [Music] uzi [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] my i just want to say um brett uh there's like a dichotomy between the torah and the hofstra where like the torah has blessings before and after and aliot whereas the haftar we can just take a chance to sit back and and i love that you're you're singing with full voice and it's really nice to hear both both your sections of of hebrew but most of us are not hebrew speakers at least as our first language so we are going to now hear from you teach about this torah portion i just want to say what a privilege and pleasure was for me to to join you on zoom to sit in our homes and look at this challenging torah portion and try to figure out what it means and what's going on and you've written such a beautiful teaching and i'm really glad that everyone else in the congregation and my tucus i'm going to go sit and listen is going to have a chance to hear you share it now please today's torah portion features moses god and the israelites god is telling moses about the commandments the israelites are to follow god tells moses to tell the israelites that if they follow the laws they will be rewarded some of the rewards include peace in their land and protection from their enemies god also tells moses that if the people do not follow these and its vote or laws they will be reprimanded god will be hostile to them and make their lives miserable by stripping them of everything their lamb their family and many other things god's goal is to convince the israelites to follow these laws i find it interesting that god is laying this reward and punishment structure to the israelites as motivation for them to follow the commandments it seems quite straightforward and simple to me that the israelites should want to follow moral commandments such as do not murder and love your neighbor as yourself why does god feel the need to motivate them by stating such amazing rewards and brutal punishments it seems that it is in the israelites best interest that they should want to follow these laws i think that just the gift of peace as a result of following these laws should be enough of a reward why does god think they need such intense encouragement i think that because the israelites were just freed of slavery they need to break out of their slave mentality so they needed a reminder on how to properly act people sometimes go astray from what is right and sometimes do not know what is truly in their best interests god noticed this and knew that the jews needed some help and in this torah portion god tells the jews what to do to help them to this day parents use very different ways to motivate their children to behave well in god in the torah portion is the ultimate parent in our modern days parents can be reward can reward their child but with something like candy or a toy they really want if they misbehave then parents can remove these were rewards and use a punishment and discipline to motivate their child to behave better children need to be taught how to behave just like the israelites needed to be re-taught how to behave my torah portion relates to me because my parents have set high standards for me throughout my childhood when i was very young and even still today when i do something well i get rewarded with words of encouragement if i do something wrong i do not get rewarded or worse while i may sometimes complain to my parents about the highest standards we have in our family i am proud to be part of a family that wants each of us to be the best we can be and i am proud today to call myself a young adult that is part of a tradition that does the same wow rhett is so great i think we need to get to your own youtube channel where you can teach torah every week we we haven't discussed this yet so i don't want to put any pressure on rabbi subscribe yes we could be your guest and you could teach us torah and it would be awesome but let's not get ahead of ourselves at shabbat but i just it's it's great it's great to hear you uh talk about this torah portion um by the way something happened when you're delivering there was like a loud noise to the side and i don't know if people on zoom could hear it but i could hear it but you did exactly what we'd want any teacher to do just you just kept teaching like and you you had our attention the whole way you know and as a teacher that's always like a fear like something's going to distract you and it's going to be hard for you but you you are you're focused you know what you want to teach about you have this clarity and goodness about you that just radiates brett and it's just so awesome it's been it's been the case with me and you in terms of me experienced that from your whole life i've i've been fortunate to see that from your sisters and your your parents as well so there's just a lot of of uh incredible energy in the congregation uh led from you uh emanating it from you on this on this beautiful day so it is uh it is not only myself that's just feeling so much joy it's our entire congregation here it's i know so many who are joining us uh over um our zoom links and our live streaming so we're going to all invite uh invite all of us to to rise and to get some of that spirit out as we sing sim and tobin muscle trouble invite your parents and your sisters to come up to be next to you for this and we're gonna sing in celebration of this beautiful moment today [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is all right well i'm gonna share some private words with you now in front of the ark brett so i'll ask you actually the rest of you to put in your mast as well you can return to your seats brett we're going to go to the ark and ask the congregation to remain standing as the ark will be open [Music] here with you beside me i feel so greatly blessed this moment means much more than i can say a time to be together the time for us to rest shabbat is here the time has come to celebrate the [Music] and from me to you my child these [Music] may god give you life and strength like joseph sons [Music] yes may god make you like our mothers like our blessed ones may god make you like our [Music] parents [Music] do [Music] foreign we're entering the section of our service where we say the mourner's kaddish and before we do i just wanted to say uh brett and to your family your mom told me that uh that your grandmother knit these uh key pot which you're wearing and uh you're wearing your your father's talit because your dad is wearing his father's talit of blessed memories so we're thinking of loved ones from your family who are no longer alive but are very much present here today and we also are aware that members of this community have had loss recently and we're going to read the names of of our communities dear ones who have died in the past 30 days now stanford abram lawrence aubry brenzell ira scare dan goldman alyssa epstein janie first edna gamson alex hochberg robert kalish miriam kleinfeldt hi i'm david kirsch dan levine allen michael levy dorothy norris susan silverman shirley werther robert witt and lyla zuckerman and to those names i'll invite anyone here today to say aloud or in the heart the names of loved ones whom you're going to say cottage for today for all of them we say zikro nam their memories will always be for blessing on page 294 we'll find the sacred words of mourner's kaddish [Music] amen amen brett we'd love to invite you back up to the bhima and your family as well we're going to close with a song of peace odya shalom elenu we believe that peace will come and we feel peace is that much closer and more present when we share this morning with you and watch you shine from the bhima [Music] odious [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] oh [Music] shalom [Music] foreign [Music] huh foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] healing [Music] [Music] this [Music] [Music] answer me on any [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] one [Music] [Music] healing the shoes [Music] [Music] answer me [Music] [Music] your answer came to me [Music] wherever you are [Music] [Music] answer me [Music] answer me [Music] answer me [Music] me so hush giving [Music] the [Music] my [Music] in the shelter of yours and know all of your ways [Music] foreign [Music] you [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] us beneath your [Music] guard us from all harmful things [Music] keep us till we wake with morning's [Music] teach [Music] me [Music] oh [Music] [Music] me my in the rising of the sun we remember in the blowing of the wind we remember in the opening of buzz we remember we remember [Music] remember [Music] [Music] [Music] when we've choice we yearn to share we remember we remember [Music] so long as we live they too shall live they are now a part of now a us of us as we remember we remember we remember we remembered [Music] um prepare me to be a sanctuary pure and holy tried and true and with thanksgiving i'll be a living sanctuary for you lord prepare me to be a sanctuary pure and holy tried and true [Music] and with thanksgiving i'll be sanctuary for you there i soon [Music] to be a sanctuary pure and holy tried and true and with thanksgiving i'll be a living [Music] sanctuary for you oh guide my steps and help me find my way i need your shouter now rock me in your arms and guide my steps [Music] and help me make this day a song of praise to you rock me in your arms [Music] [Music] so shabbat shalom we begin with these words havana [Music] let us sing together please join us [Music] [Music] hallelujah [Music] you [Music] so nice to be here in our congregation with all of you and we know with all those that are joining us through live streaming it's a very nice day here in new york a little a little rainy but as some of you might know and particularly tori i want you to know when there's a little rain that's a sign of good fortune and no doubt that is uh what i was thinking when i saw the raiders ah tori got a little rain today that's good news on her bat mitzvah as you have heard we have a special co-leader of our service this morning and her name is tori can you give a wave to us so we can see you next to your beautiful family troy i was um just doing a little reflecting since since you and i have been lucky to know each other a long time on may 16th 2009 i was lucky to be with you and your family as they bestowed your hebrew name to you and after that you were a regular member of our nursery school you were here as much as any other member of the synagogue was during her your youngest years and uh we sat here on the bema we played in your classroom and uh and as you've grown through lclj and now for about mitzvot we've had a chance to study so it is very powerful for both me and the cantor to be able to be part of this service with you as a co-leader and to you and your beautiful family you want to say congratulations and i am rabbi mo salt joined by my friend and colleague cantor julia cadrain and our magnificent musicians to help fill this service with song this is a sensitive day for us and only uh uh the most sweet and bitter of ways because sweet because we are uh concluding kendrick adrain's time at central synagogue with this service in terms of our worship and sweet because we love you so much julia and we're so thrilled for the chance that you'll have as the senior cantor of temple israel in connecticut and in westport connecticut and i can't say the words because it's just if i say that maybe if i don't say that maybe it's not true but but in all seriousness we we just adore you and it's been such a privilege to work with you and uh we're really looking forward to the service and i was noticing earlier that we have at least four screens and when you're leading the service you are on them so it's like we have we're surrounded by you and we're just leaning into that on this special service and special morning thank you rabbi i'm so grateful i love to tell people when i'm down here in the pavilion up in the sanctuary it's more cantor could drain than you ever thought you needed [Laughter] of course the reason you're down there is because of safety protocols otherwise we'd love to have you here but um but yes you're right now we get four four canika drains four counter could do the thing ah all right i only have i only have just the one so we'll turn now to page 108 for the call to prayer that's like our way of saying we're here together we're ready to pray please rise [Laughter] [Music] one [Music] please be seated we'll continue on page 114 shimmer is [Music] my [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] we turn to page 122 for our song of [Music] freedom [Music] la [Music] a [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Music] page 124 please rise [Music] [Applause] [Music] we continue with some quiet personal reflection and prayer we invite you to be seated or remain standing as you're comfortable [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] let go [Music] and the meditation be acceptable to [Music] you [Music] i foreign let go tori i'm going to invite you to come up to the podium with your parents you can open up your book to the first page and take off your mask for we are entering the section of our worship where we will be reading from the torah and to help us open this section tory we'll invite you to you can just come right up next to her yeah you can read that first poem on that page the light of the torah shines forth from zion adonai's teachings flow from jerusalem this girl has nurtured our people from sinai to today it teaches us love and justice hope and peace [Music] oh and now i have the honor inviting you and your parents to step a few more steps up this podium i'll ask you to put your mass on invite your three grandparents that are here today to join you as we're about to pass this torah into your arms tori this is one of our favorite rituals in our community because we get to symbolically and literally pass from generation to generation the torah into your arms and we know that your family has been embracing this tradition for many years teaching you the core values of our people and the essential goodness of what it means to to be a jewish person and to be kind and caring and thoughtful throughout every aspect of your life we have a name for our people besides the jewish people and that name is israel or israel it comes from the torah and a story of one of our forefathers jacob he's given the name israel which means which actually means to wrestle with god and later we become known as the children of israel or israel so we are a people that wrestle with god which doesn't necessarily always make sense you think oh we should be honoring god and and and respecting god through our our lives and and i think that is very much part of what our tradition's about but also we're to think and to challenge and to question and that is what we did together when we studied this very interesting torah portion i would say this very challenging torah portion and together we wrestled with the text to try to figure out what does this mean and how can we get the ultimate goal of using it to be a force for good in our world and of course for good tori you are so it's with all that that we have been on this journey your teachers your family with you and we continue to do as we are today to stand by you and to pass this tour soon into your arms and i'll mention although she's not here your grandmother your mother's mother we feel her presence here today as we send this torah through generation to generation with love to you [Music] you're a gift and you're a blessing you are history in the song you are hope and you are healing you are learning to be [Music] strong [Music] from generation to generation these lips will praise [Music] section of the tour you're reading from in the first aliyah tonight's proportion is taken from parashat from the book of leviticus chapter 26 verses 3 through 13. from my first aliyah i call upon my grandparents gerald margie and michael okay ready here we go [Music] a [Music] [Music] shalom [Music] [Music] [Music] that's a foreign one but you chanted it so beautifully particularly with you standing aside tori so tori can you introduce the second alia for my second aaliyah i call upon my mom lauren my dad and stepmom scott and amanda and my sister megan your seats and you guys can come up stand to the right of tory for the blessing beforehand you can take your message off when you're [Music] [Music] me [Music] um [Music] [Music] [Music] tori you're chanting so nicely i'll invite your family now to return to your seats but not you i know uh canada drain wants to share some words with you tori you're doing such an amazing job i'm so proud watching you shine from this bema and it's fitting now that you should receive the greatest honor we can ever give and this will be the first time in your life that you received this honor and that is to be called up to the torah by your hebrew name you've risen to the challenge of becoming batmitza and we are all so full of pride watching you take your place here [Music] now tori will invite you to chant the [Music] blessings [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] that you have an exceptional voice and it's so wonderful to have you uh just on the microphones filling up the sanctuary with the the words of your torah portion and this is the last torah portion in this third book of the torah and i don't think the cantor wants to mention something about that you i do want to mention that how did you know rabbi well yes i know you i know i know what's on your mind we have a tradition of when we finish the book of torah that means be strong and may we strengthen one another tori we draw such strength from you watching your strength and poise and the light that you shine on this bema so we chant these words now and there's good news congregation because we have a chance to hear tori chants of more particularly uh the haftarah blessings and the after offer today i'm going to ask you to introduce that tori and and go on with the blessings for this week is taken from the book of jeremiah i'll be reading from chapter 17 verses 10 through 14. [Music] is [Music] [Music] i [Music] [Music] ah [Music] [Music] [Music] shabbat beautiful job tori so wonderful to hear you chant and as i mentioned i really also thought it was wonderful that we had a chance to study this challenging portion together you've written a very thoughtful devartura i know you want to say some words beforehand and then i want to invite you to share it with the with all of us before i share my divar torah i want to thank rabbi soth and cancer godrain for helping me prepare for this day i am honored to be cancer goodrain's last bomb it's a service at central synagogue i want to wish her the best of luck in her new adventure in parashat bechukotai god continues to have a conversation with moses who was still on mount sinai moses and god are discussing behavior of the people this leads god to tell them if the people obey the laws of the torah and keep the covenant they'll be rewarded with peace tranquility full crops and rented season if they disobey the laws they'll be disciplined and experience gruesome curses people will be punished with illness starvation homicidal beasts and cannibalism reading this i wondered why god would thrown to punish the israelites it was really upsetting to you if our ancestors and maybe when we might be treated if we didn't follow the commandments then i realized the writers of the torah were using god to motivate the reader to have respect and honor for the mitzvot the authors used god to teach that actions have consequences in our world we have many who teach us this important lesson behavior has its consequences in my life my parents and teachers constantly reinforce this message they always tell me to think before i act and to make sure i respect those around me i have also learned the lesson the hard way one time my friends and i were playing a prank on another friend by hiding her shoes when she went to go look for them she fell and cut her lip afterwards i felt very guilty that something i thought would be funny ended up hurting my friend this taught me to be more thoughtful and realize the effect my actions have on the people around me the government and current events teach this lesson too when the news of governor cuomo's inappropriate relationships with female staff members coming out people were very upset with his past behavior it is crazy how governor cuomo's abusive power has overshadowed all the good he did for new york last year during the cover 19 pandemic this just goes to show that no matter who you are your actions can ruin your career and relationships as for me i personally know the benefits of when i work hard for school and when i teach my sister and friends with love and respect today i stand here as about mitzvah and going forward i will strive to be more respectful and careful about what i say and do to protect those around me i don't think god will necessarily reward me for this but i do believe that there will be such word for taking the best care of my loved ones and my school responsibilities that will be reward enough wow that's impressive teaching tori i i like to sit in the congregation because if i sit here i really can't you know see you and and you have a tremendous strength in delivery and your words are uh particularly um engaging for first of all um when i'm studying with students and we talk about their teachings sometimes i'll encourage them if there's an example where you've learned how to be a better person you can share but it's it's hard for students to do that because they have to explain to the congregation i i've learned from this mistake and uh but you you didn't shy from that you talked about this incident with your friend um you weren't trying to be malicious it's just uh you know you were pranking her right um and it didn't turn out so well and and and instead of being like yeah it doesn't matter you're like i'm not gonna do that again and um but also you're showing us your comfort with your your self-awareness and and wanting to be a better person which i think is very good news for you and also very good news for all of us and and then also you you approach a subject which again it's it's hard for for for uh mitzvah and adults to talk about and that subject is god and uh and i agree with you i i don't i don't think god's in the business of of uh punishing us or rewarding us i think god more is in the business of supporting us and being by our side but um but nonetheless this teaching which you mentioned is so true that that when we when we are able to to be our best and live at our best not only is there a reward just enough from that but it also allows us to to just feel good about ourselves and and to sleep at night and be like i'm trying my best i'm doing my best that's what we want from you of course and that's what we want from all of us and you tori i i we couldn't have a better teacher for that lesson than you today and thank you for all the work you put in and all the effort you put in and for who you are you are a bright bright light in this community and and for all of us that are lucky to know you and we we we're just bursting with with with happiness and joy and we're going to let some of that out now we're going to invite the congregation here to rise those of us that are joining in live streaming we're going to sing around of of symmetra and mazel tov will invite your your parents and your sister to come back up for uh some dosey doing and some singing and and your whole family can come up um to uh celebrate and sing these words you can take your mask off and we can sing simon tobin mazel tuber [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is oh my gosh so great to see you all next to tori and i'll invite you now tory to come up next to the ark i have some private words i'd like to share with you your family can return to your seats and we're going to remain standing if we're able because the ark will be open [Music] here with you beside me i feel so greatly blessed this moment means much more than i can say a time to be together the time for us is here the time has come to celebrate the day so i hold you close my hands upon your head and from me to you my child these [Music] words [Music] may god give you life and strength [Applause] [Music] may god make you like our mothers like our blessed ones may god make you like our parents a blessed voice [Music] so [Music] we're entering the section of our service we remember loved ones who have recently died who have died many years ago in particular we're thinking of alisa angowitz your dear mother lauren her presence as i mentioned earlier i know is here and we think of other dear ones from your families who are no longer alive and are here and whose presence is with us and we read names of loved ones from this community loved ones who have recently died within the past 30 days as we think of them and remember them their names are stanford abram lawrence aubry brenzel iris gair dan goldman alyssa epstein janie first edna gamson alex hochberg robert kalish miriam kleinfeld i am david kirsch dan levine allen michael levy dorothy norris susan silverman shirley werther robert witt and lyla zuckerman if you're remembering a loved one before this prayer of kaddish we invite you to say their name out loud or or within your hearts and we say zichron nam livrecha their memories will always be a blessing to us the words of mortis kaddish are on page 294. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] as i mentioned uh this is the last service which kendra drew cadrain will be leading for us as one of our cantors and last night we had a special opportunity to honor her and it was a really beautiful gathering throughout our shabbat service and i didn't want to miss the opportunity to have one more ritual opportunity to thank you cantor for everything you have given this community without a doubt it has been your full heart and spirit and soul and we are so grateful to that for that to you for that and so i'd like to invite our congregation those online to join me in the singing of our shachiyanu blessing our blessing of thanksgiving [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh our cantor has an extra special working relationship with our choir and our musicians who i mentioned earlier are just magnificent and we are lucky to have an extraordinary musical director his name is david strickland and we're going to close our server with david sharing a few words about our closing song for today so david please thank you rabbi we're really drawing this out aren't we and for the record this may not have been a good idea to let me speak at the end because hopefully uh i'll i'll make it but uh try it draw it right out i'll draw it right out yeah yeah um i want to thank tori again for letting us just a little personal privilege it was so wonderful to hear you chant today but we're just going to say our final goodbye to julia we said so much last night we asked her what song she wanted to sing as her last song with us at least for for now for the for the time being she's chosen uh one written by her wife ilana ariane wonderful colleague and dear friend um it's called i have a voice and indeed you do wow incredible incredible voice i wrote in the card to you last night that you know in addition to your magnificent voice and i know i speak for everybody we could all be speaking now but i have the honor of of being that person um also what stands out um is your vulnerability and your radical empathy you've taught us so much you're so kind and so generous and your voice is so beautiful and it's just a reflection of who you are inside and um we're going to miss you so much and even though you're not far away you're going to be busy and they're so lucky to have you up there and and you have imprinted on us forever and we're so grateful and i'm grateful you're for your friendship and i look forward to your next chapter and basking in your reflected glory and until we meet again thank you so much what did what a special moving moment and and thank you so much tori and family for for sharing in this with us this community this community at central is so blessed to have this musical team and i just wish that you all continue to enjoy each other for years to come that these beautiful sounds will continue to echo here in central we have a voice it's powerful it will change the worlds i have a voice my voice is powerful my voice can change the world i have a voice my voice is powerful my voice can change the world you can repeat after me now i will open my eyes i will not look away i will use this gift i've been given every day i have a voice i have a voice my voice is powerful my voice can change the world i have a voice my voice is powerful my voice can change the world you can repeat after me i will give of myself i will use this heart i've been given to take a stand i have a voice my voice is powerful my voice can change the world i have a voice my voice is powerful my voice can change the world i have a voice my voice is powerful my voice can change the world i have a voice my voice is powerful my voice can change the world [Music] amen and amen shabbat shalom may this be your blessings [Music] is you

Channel: Central Synagogue

Views: 2,117

Rating: 4.6799998 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: u5exqYPux74

Length: 231min 20sec (13880 seconds)

Published: Sat May 08 2021