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RABBI Joseph Hample

OFFICERS

President Ed Gerson Immediate Past Pres. Adam Rosefsky 1st VP TBD 2nd VP Robert Klein Treasurer Linda Herbst Secretary Laura Cohen

BOARD

Alison Bass Laura Cohen Ed Gerson Linda Herbst Yoav Kaddar Bob Klein Rusty Mall Barry Pallay Jaimie Russell Merle Stolzenberg Robyn Temple-Smolkin Scott Daffner

COMMITTEES

House Marty Sippin Education Jaimie Russell Social Action Susan Brown Israel Committee Art Jacknowitz CARE Merle Stolzenberg Ritual Committee Rich Cohen Newsletter Sylvia Cooper Kitchen TBD

ASSOCIATES Sisterhood Rosa Becker Hillel Rich Gutmann Hadassah Merle Stolzenberg WV Holocaust Ed. Center Edith Levy

INSIDE HIGHLIGHTS

Page 2 - 5 Rabbi Joe Page 5 Education Page 6 High Holidays: Honors & Tickets Page 7 Poetry Corrner Page 8 President’s Message TOL Distinguished Lecture Series Page 9 Community Sharing Page 10 More Poems Page 11 Calendar: Sept & Oct Page 12 Mazal Tov Shabbat

Sept/Oct 2017

those that hold fast to it. Elul/Tishrei/Cheshvan 5777-5778

It is a Tree of Life to

Morgantown, West Virginia

High Holiday Schedule of Services 2017

Wednesday, Sept. 20 Erev Rosh ha-Shanah

7:30 pm Kiddush after service

Thursday, Sept. 21

Rosh ha-Shanah Morning Children’s service 9:15-10:00 am Service 10:00 am – 12:00 noon

Tashlich 12:30 pm

Friday, Sept. 22 Rosh ha-Shanah Second Day Service 10:00 am – 12:00 noon

Sunday, Sept. 24

Kever Avot (cemetery visit) at Beverly Hills Memorial Park

2:00 pm

Friday, Sept. 29 Kol Nidrei 7:30 pm

Saturday, Sept. 30

Yom Kippur Children’s service 9:15-10:00 am Morning service begins 10:00 am

Break 12:30 pm Rabbi’s Tish 2:30-3:30 pm

Music & Reading of names/memorial 3:30-4:30 pm Afternoon Service 4:30 pm

Yizkor 5:45 pm N’ilah 6:15 pm

Havdalah 7:00 pm Break-the-Fast after Havdalah

Friday, Oct. 6

Pizza in the Hut & Sukkot service 6:00-8:00 pm

Sunday, Oct. 8

Simchat Torah celebration 10:00 am – 12:00 noon

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2 From Rabbi Joe

Rabbi Hample

Where Repentance Begins

I gave the sermon at the Morgan-town Church of the Brethren on Sunday, July 16. Here’s what I said.

I’m in my seventh decade, which is sobering. I’ve reached the age of perpetual life review. The day doesn’t go by without my pondering how I could have lived my life more wisely, more decently. Or, on the other hand, how I might have lived it even more recklessly than I did: I have those fantasies too. I don’t want to wallow in self-recrimination. I do want to make sense of my journey, which includes owning my mistakes.

In the Jewish calendar we have cycles of celebration and repentance, celebration and repentance. The cycles get shorter as we approach the annual period of inspection, the High Holidays on the brink of autumn. Right now we’re in a repentance cycle, three weeks of solemn reflection in memory of ancient calamities. We are reading Jeremiah, on the missteps that led to the destruction of the Temple. Some of those sins are still current.

Repentance should not take the form of wishing we were different peo-ple: either more controlled, like our enslaved ancestors in despotic Egypt, or more uncontrolled, like our sensual ancestors in decadent Assyria. Best to avoid extremes. We don’t want to be too thin or too fat, too silly or too glum, too cheap or too extravagant. Equal and opposite errors threaten us at all times. James Thurber wrote: You might as well fall flat on your face as lean over too far backward.

This week’s lesson from Jere-miah (2:18) asks: What is the good of your going to Egypt to drink the waters of the Nile? And what is the good of your going to Assyria to drink the wa-

ters of the Euphrates? The rabbinic legends (Lamentations Rabba, prologue 19) clarify: If you were righteous, you would be dwelling in Jerusalem and drinking the waters of Shiloah, the local stream, called Siloam in the New Testa-ment. In other words, we should focus on being ourselves: our best selves. I could have lived a more conventional life, as geometric as an Egyptian pyra-mid: law school, wife and kids, big house in the suburbs. Or I could have lived even more unconventionally than I did, as eccentric as an Assyrian ziggu-rat: no college, no office job, no midlife turn to the clergy. Those Joe Hamples would have had their own interesting stories. But they aren’t me.

This middle-of-the-road me has plenty to repent of. What do rabbis repent of? First and foremost, not re-membering names! I try, but not as hard as I might. It’s not enough to ask someone’s name: you have to really hear the answer, immediately construct-ing a mnemonic device, perhaps a men-tal association with someone else who has the same name. Otherwise you’ll forget very quickly. Also, you have to tell them your name: I often omit that piece. No use being too deliberate, memorizing names at the expense of enjoying the interaction; or too sponta-neous, all banter and hilarity and no effort to figure out who you’re talking to. Sip from that well of the happy me-dium!

Another thing rabbis repent of is not visiting the sick, a key part of our job. Again, I do it, but not often enough. Visiting the sick is stressful: even if it only takes half an hour, you have to balance it with a lot of goofing off to restore your cheerfulness. And patient visits are difficult to schedule. You wouldn’t think sick people would be so busy, but you have to work around doctors and nurses, physical therapy and occupational therapy, and visits from their family and friends. Even if sick people aren’t busy, you have to allow them the dignity of telling you what day and time they’d prefer to see you. It’s their bedside, not yours. After a sick call, I always wonder if I spoke too much or said too little, stayed too long or left too soon. The Egyp-tians probably visited the sick too in-tensely, the Assyrians too lackadaisical-ly. The right way is our way. We are

our own role models. But rabbis are supposed to be

community role models, which means more opportunities to fail. A rabbi could be too political, potentially alien-ating congregants of another opinion; or a rabbi could be not political enough, failing to provide any moral compass around the great dilemmas of the era. I am active in the Greater Morgantown Interfaith Association, which advocates for diversity and inclusion, principles I feel strongly about. But I steer clear of other causes, in my public persona: I’m hired as a religious functionary, not a partisan activist. If occasionally I’m slurping from the Nile of ideology or the Euphrates of apathy, that’s not real-ly me. The real me should repent of poor performance in the middle ground.

In our multifaith society, a clergyperson has one foot inside the tent of their own tradition, and one foot outside amid the motley religious mar-ketplace. I preach mainly in the syna-gogue, that’s what my contract requires. But I also do panel discussions on cam-pus; I teach mixed classes at OLLI, the lifelong learning institute at Moun-taineer Mall; and I take the occasional guest lectern, like the pleasure of ad-dressing you today. Of course, I will recycle this sermon in my temple bulle-tin, so my dues-paying congregants can enjoy it too. I trust I’m halfway be-tween the linear Nile and the meander-ing Euphrates, the rut of my own doc-trine and the overflow into everyone else’s channel.

In contemporary Judaism we have a denominational spectrum, a the-ological continuum, from the very fun-damental to the very modern. You can be Orthodox, ultra-Orthodox, black-hat Orthodox: or you can be an existential-ist, a relativist, a humanist. Or an infin-ity of intermediate gradations. I’m do-ing several weddings this summer: some couples are all retro, they want a God-heavy ceremony; others are avant garde, they tell me to go easy on the God stuff. In Egypt, as I imagine it, nothing ever changed, you had to do exactly what your great-grandparents did. In Assyria the kaleidoscope of cults and fads undermined any chance of cultural stability. I hope to eschew both Egyptian rigidity and Assyrian incoherence. Neither is the most per-suasive Judaism.

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3 From Rabbi Joe

In a 1995 essay, Rabbi Dan Cohn-Sherbok distinguished between “dog rabbis” and “cat rabbis.” Dog rabbis socialize after the service: they want to schmooze all night. Cat rabbis rush home when the prayers are over: they feel phony and insecure hugging and kissing every random worshiper. This droll taxonomy, dog rabbis and cat rabbis, defines a pair of traps for clergy: two different cliffs we can fall over. We dare not be emotionally dependent on our congregation: we need our own friends, our own support system. We’d better not sulk when parishioners move away or, God forbid, change religions. Just the same, the flock expects eye contact from clergy, they yearn to be welcomed and valued, they like you to care about them. Dogs and cats. Cats were sacred in Egypt; Assyria had the seven dogs of Ishtar, in the epic of Gil-gamesh. But us, we need to find the perfect blend of woof and meow.

Rabbis are supposed to train children, especially in a small congrega-tion like mine without a professional faculty. When teaching kids, you can easily be too serious, or too frivolous. For a couple of years I had a parent in my congregation who was also a cre-dentialed Jewish educator. She was wedded to that high-concept, jargon-heavy academic pedagogy that has nev-er clicked for me, and she considered my fun-and-games syllabus a big waste of time. On the other hand, when I work with bar or bat mitzvah students, I tend to push hard for flawless Torah chanting and a sermon with gravitas, which could intimidate the children. The uptight Egyptian curriculum or the loosey-goosey Assyrian curriculum. Neither of them is really me. If they entice me, it’s only because I haven’t polished my own intrinsic style.

Bar mitzvah sermons aren’t the only thing a rabbi edits. A rabbi re-views all official documents of the syna-gogue, to make sure they exude the right Jewish sparkle. There is the risk of nit-picking, making a federal case of every misplaced comma; or of a debilitating laxity, slacking off with misspellings and misstatements and misnomers. As you know, the Egyptians wrote with intricate and beautiful hieroglyphs carved in granite; the Assyrians wrote with a messy jumble of cuneiform squashed into clay. Once, for a Sunday

school skit, I faked a few rows of hiero-glyphs onto a slab of foamboard. But as a general thing, I don’t have the disci-pline to align hieroglyphs, or the mad-ness to scribble cuneiform. I ought to leverage my own mode of discourse.

A rabbi at a smallish congrega-tion is also, inevitably, an administrator. I have to coordinate staff and volun-teers, projects and events, in a way that makes people glad to participate. If you’ve ever coordinated anything, you know there are twin dangers. You can be too directive, like an Egyptian phar-aoh, micromanaging every nuance; or too distributive, letting your Assyrian satraps each go off on a different tan-gent. If you hold power too close to your royal cloak, you burn out, and you also make your team resentful; but if you impose no particular guidance, your blueprint goes unconsummated, like the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9). Still, those opposite perils beckon only be-cause I lack faith in the synthesis, the vision to lead plus the confidence to delegate. The temptation of extremes should not divert me from blazing the moderate trail.

Technology is a big headache for this baby-boomer rabbi. I don’t know how to use social media, or main-tain our website, although everyone keeps telling me how easy and intuitive it is. I do know how to text and e-mail, I know how to use Microsoft Office and update the listserv, and it makes me impatient when other people don’t know those skills, or don’t know them very well. The Egyptians were technological innovators; the Assyrians just coasted on the discoveries of their predecessors, the Sumerians. But I am neither an Egyptian nor an Assyrian. If I repent of misusing technology, I should repent within the parameters of my own semi-competence.

A pulpit rabbi has to collabo-rate with the synagogue officers, board, committees, and task forces. In this relationship, the rabbi’s role is not only to advocate for ancient text and tradi-tion, but also to be the de facto switch-board, the synagogue portal. Lots of people don’t know who to contact at the synagogue about X or Y or Z, so the default is to call the rabbi: the rabbi will direct this information or that question to the appropriate party. This dubious honor, of being the help desk, makes me

a little crazy. Half of me wants to throw every logistical issue in the board’s lap, and the other half of me wants to smoth-er every logistical issue with neglect. Ignite the Nile with it or drown it in the Euphrates. But neither of those options is Joe Hample at his most genuine. Joe Hample at his most genuine would ad-dress each inquiry with tact and empa-thy, seeking the resolution best suited to the moment and the situation. If Joe Hample repents, let it be for failures of detail in this troubleshooting process.

Now, why did I become a rabbi in the first place? I feel very close to you: I think I can tell you this. I became a rabbi because I’ve always loved for-eign languages, studying a slew of dif-ferent idioms, at one time or another: French, Latin, Greek, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, and of course, Hebrew. For Jews, Hebrew is a token of our authen-ticity, linking us to our co-religionists in other countries and centuries. All the same, too much Hebrew is offputting to the majority of my flock, who may know very little of the tongue. At my congregation, we even do the occasional Mostly English Service, which has a passionate constituency. In Egypt the Israelites clung to their own language (Leviticus Rabba 32:5), though it must have been hard. In Mesopotamia the Jews assimilated to the regional lan-guage, Aramaic (Nehemiah 8:8). I could go wrong with Nile language mili-tancy or with Euphrates language sur-render. But the worthiest self-improvement is to integrate my bilingual liturgy more delicately.

We are put on earth to be our-selves, not the person next door. When called before the heavenly tribunal, we will not be measured against our neigh-bor: we will be asked if we fulfilled our own potential. The rabbis say God will scrutinize us kivnei maron (Mishnah Rosh ha-Shanah 1:2), “one by one.” The literal meaning of kivnei maron is uncertain: like sheep approaching the shepherd one by one? like mountain climbers reaching the summit one by one? like soldiers passing muster one by one? (Talmud Rosh ha-Shanah 18a) But the basic idea is perfectly clear: we are individuals, and our evaluation is indi-vidual. It fits us perfectly.

During these three midsummer weeks of solemn reflection, old-fashioned Jews follow the practices of a mourner. Personal grooming is mini-

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4 From Rabbi Joe

mized, entertainment is avoided. Self-discipline and self-restraint are the watchwords. Everyone doesn’t follow those rules anymore. But at least we might restrain ourselves from trying to be someone else. God is never going to ask why you weren’t an Egyptian or why you weren’t an Assyrian. God will only ask why you weren’t you.

I want to thank you, and Jere-miah, for helping me repent. What I get from Jeremiah is that it’s not enough just to repent: you must repent in the proper framework. Dickens said charity begins at home, but Jeremiah said repentance begins at home. That’s the key.

This current repentance cycle continues till August 1st. Then we’re back in a joyful stretch until mid Sep-tember. For meaningful repentance, we can only regret not being ourselves: it’s idle to regret not being John Doe or Jane Bow. Atonement should not mean thirsting for the stringent waters of the Nile or the prurient waters of the Eu-phrates, but only the waters of our spring, the fountain of Shiloah. For Jews, this summer repentance window is about finding the right way to repent: the substance of repentance must wait till the primary, equinoctial season of judgment. For Christians, I believe, you have carte blanche to repent all year round.

Northern Diaspora Montreal! We drink in the

city’s Europeanness, the extravagant architecture, the monuments and statues and gardens, the provincial flag with its fleurs-de-lis. A certain Catholic nu-ance, the cathedral, the big cross on the hillside, the avenues named for saints, but it seems right for French Canada: in Jerusalem the streets are named for rabbis. We tour Boulevard Saint-Laurent, the old Jewish district now gone multicultural, like Murray Avenue in Pittsburgh. Placards commemorate bits of the city’s rich Jewish past; mu-rals celebrate Leonard Cohen and Mor-decai Richler. There’s a tiny Jewish museum where, inexplicably, the do-cent is from Paraguay. Friday night we go to Family Shabbat at Temple Emanu-El Beth Sholom, in the leafy West-mount neighborhood. At the oneg I sit

the conductor asks if I’d be willing to open the emergency exit in case of an accident. French must be her first lan-guage: she accents “capable” on the second syllable. CAY-pable, I say help-fully. In Quebec we delight in the his-toric downtown with its stone and brick, walls and gates and fountains, its flamboyant Frenchness. Horses and buggies to amuse the tourists. We grab a bus to Jewish sites in an outlying dis-trict. The Jewish cemetery is locked, but we walk into the pluralistic syna-gogue, which has moved out of a larger facility downtown. The director is from Brazil; the new rabbi was raised Ortho-dox in Strasbourg. They tell us Quebec was historically very Catholic, and Jews felt pressured to fit in: but minds are broader now, and there are high hopes for some fresh Jewish energy. We dine on an impossibly quaint street in the old city; the waitress compli-ments my French. I must be improving, or maybe she’s just being polite.

Next day we explore the Plains of Abraham, the battlefield where Can-ada’s fate was sealed in 1759: British, not French. A young woman walks by in blue historic garb and I blurt, Êtes-vous anglais ou français? She replies with mock severity, Français! Ce n’est pas évident? We stroll around the Châ-teau Frontenac, a faux-historic immen-sity, and locate the Théâtre Périscope, where the synagogue used to be housed. We grab a cold drink at a Cuban restau-rant – but the hostess is Colombian. We dine at our hotel, where I tell the waitress about Morgantown, mostly in French: it’s getting easier.

Back in Montreal, we stroll past the Museum of Fine Arts, designed by Israeli architect Moshe Safdie. Lots of weird sculptures out front: is that a spaghetti tree, or a bad hair day? We hike up Mont-Royal, the mountainous central park that gives the city its name. The giant steel cross is somehow less impressive at close range. Down the other side we discover a Pentecostal church in a former synagogue, as proved by the Hebrew cornerstone. We find an iconic bagel place, cramped and brusque, with a dozen varieties. They’re pretty good, these Montreal bagels, thinner and sweeter than their New York counterparts. We dine on Rue Ste-Catherine East with its miscel-

between a Chinese woman, born Jewish in Kaifeng, and a black woman, con-verted in Washington, DC. They’re thrilled with Canada – in the summer-time.

One morning we walk through UQAM (Université du Québec à Mont-réal), then stop for a cold drink. I try ordering in my high-school French; I strike out. It’s the same problem I have in Israel: they speak my language so much better than I speak theirs, it seems unreasonable to insist on doing it the hard way. Returning to the hotel, we encounter some kind of raucous inter-national parade, dancers and costumes and flags. My heart goes out to them: no doubt most of them are struggling with French too. We meet some cous-ins at Deli Snowdon in a gritty neigh-borhood, with probably fewer Jews than it used to have: but I enjoy a little rye bread and whitefish in the tile-and-chrome ambiance of the mid-20th centu-ry.

In Ottawa we gape at Canada’s massive government palaces brooding above the river. Tourists snap each other’s pictures, all colors and ages, headgear of many religions. Women in hijabs hold hands with their husbands: I didn’t know that was allowed. On Sparks Street we see a few kippot (Jewish skullcaps) and tzitziyyot (fringed garments). We spot a little Jewish heritage exhibit in the lobby of an office tower. We attend a sound-and-light show at the Parliament building for Canada’s 150th birthday. The theme of unity-in-diversity dominates the bi-lingual presentation. More about native peoples than you’d hear in a U.S. histo-ry show. I guess they’re a greater per-centage of the Canadian population.

Next day we decide to rent bicycles. The Chinese-Canadian rental agent recommends the path along the Rideau Canal, with a beautiful view of cottages and bridges and boats and ducks. We track down the Reform syn-agogue, a plain-looking brick building in a remote neighborhood. We have lunch at an African-Portuguese restau-rant, dinner at a pizza parlor where the waitress is from Russia. On the street, interracial couples hold hands; a South Asian girl walks a corgi. A passerby tells his companion, “I went to college here, but it’s gotten a lot bigger.”

On the train to Quebec City,

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5 Rabbi Joe/Education

laneous street life. The exotic-looking waitress confides that she’s half-Chilean, half-Moroccan: she wears a khamsa (hand-shaped amulet) given her by a friend. It’s going to be hard to leave this cosmopolitan paradise.

Diaspora, galut in Hebrew, is viewed harshly in Jewish tradition: a misfortune that kept us from fulfilling our potential, or even a punishment for misusing our sovereignty. Devout Jews pray three times a day l’kabbetz ga-luyyoteinu, to bring our exiles back to-gether. But many modern thinkers, from Moses Mendelssohn to Simon Rawid-owicz, offer a rosier assessment of the dispersion, as an opportunity to share Torah with all nations and learn from them as well, to mix with other peoples for our mutual benefit. All the more for my diaspora within the Diaspora, my two-week August jaunt up north: a chance to bring an American Jewish sensibility to a different land of emigra-tion.

Some things are more old-fashioned in Canada: mailboxes and phone booths, almost extinct in the States, are still plentiful. Other things are illogical: bills are calculated to the penny, but the smallest coin is the five-cent piece. The maps don’t necessarily put north at the top, which makes it harder to get your bearings in a strange city. But perhaps we Americans need to learn more flexibility of perspective! The snack bars don’t provide enough diet options, there’s no nonfat latte or unsweet iced tea. But maybe we Ameri-cans are foolish to think we can eat more and weigh less!

Canada loves me. I overtip everyone because the money is unfamil-iar. And Canada – at least the parts we visit – seems more frankly ethnic than the U.S., which for all its diversity still yearns for the melting pot, the fantasy of a monolithic identity. A monolithic Canada doesn’t exist even in theory.

Adult Education By Rabbi Joe Hample

Adult Education is now pro-

vided through several channels. Our Distinguished Lecture Series has brought in guest speakers like historian Robert Blobaum on May 16 and medi-cal pilgrim Daniel Berrebi on Aug. 22. Watch for upcoming programs!

I teach at the synagogue on some holidays. The next program is “Adam and Eve in Jewish Legend” on Yom Kippur, Saturday, Sept. 30, 2:30-3:30 pm. I do joint presentations with other clergy through the Greater Mor-gantown Interfaith Association (GMIA) at different venues. The next program is “Adam and Eve in Three Faith Traditions,” Sunday, Oct. 8, 4:00-7:00 pm, at First Presbyterian Church, 456 Spruce St. And I teach at the Mountainlair on the WVU campus by invitation from various groups. The next program is “Multicultural Panel Discussion,” tentatively on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 6:30 pm.

Above all, I teach at Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) in Mountaineer Mall. The next program is “Jewish Values from Bible to Bu-ber,” on Wednesdays, Oct. 4 – Nov. 8, 10:00-11:50 am. Judaism is often ste-reotyped as a legalistic religion, all form and no content. In fact, the prophets and the rabbis tease out God’s reasons for requiring this and prohibit-ing that; the mystics and the philoso-phers seek the inner Judaism of spiritu-al meaning to complement the outer Judaism of do’s and don’ts. Using texts old and new, we will explore var-ious ways to understand Judaism’s elusive essence.

I hope you will join us as your schedule permits. Please note, classes at remote locations can be reprised at the synagogue if there is demand.

The 2017-2018 Religious School

Year Begins: A Year of

Jewish Journeys By Margalit Persing

This year’s Sunday School curriculum of Jewish Journeys builds on the Jewish Mitzvot (Values) of last year as we focus on our history from Torah times to modern times. On August 20, families and students gathered for the initial meeting. There were many famil-iar faces among families and teachers, as well as some new ones. Many activities, such as the weekly one sentence Torah and Hafta-rah portions during the service will be familiar to all. There will be some new activities as well. Instead of quarterly Family Shabbat potlucks on Friday eve-nings, the Educational Committee is experimenting with a new format in-volving other days and activities. The first family event took place on Aug 26 from 5:30-7:30 at TOL. Families and friends were invited to enjoy dinner (provided by TOL) to-gether, followed by weekly Sunday School activities and Havdalah. The early Saturday evening time may be more convenient for our younger fami-lies, as well as for teachers who often come straight from work to Friday night events. Other days and times will be gladly considered for family events. Please let us know what works for you. And there may be changes in the timing of Hebrew classes this year as well. Many families do not find the Sunday right after Sunday School time convenient. If you have a Hebrew school age child please let Rabbi Joe know if there is a day and time that you prefer for Hebrew classes. We will do our best to schedule Hebrew classes at convenient times for all. Sunday School on Sundays resumes on Sept 10 at 10:00 am. Please

contact Rabbi Joe if you have any ques-tions. As always everyone is welcome at

the Sunday morning 10:00 am service, even if you are not accompanied by a

child!

Rabbi Joe presents:

“Adam and Eve in Jewish Legend”

Yom Kippur day, Saturday, Sept. 30,

2:30-3:30 pm.

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6 High Holidays: Honors & Tickets

Rosh Hashannah & Yom Kippur Honors

This year we will be following the procedure we utilized last year for assigning honors: If you would like to do a reading during the holiday services or if you want to volunteer to open or close the Ark please contact the ritual committee. The committee will not be calling to solicit volunteers to read nor to open and close the Ark. During September those who have volunteered will be called and will be notified of their assignments.

To volunteer you may contact Rich Cohen, prior to September 15th, at 304 2923695 or at rpc116c@gmail.com

New Tickets Policy for High Holidays Why are these changes taking place? Because of financial constraints and to encourage more people to consider joining our congregation prior to the High Holidays, in the next few weeks we will be issuing tickets for High Holiday services. We also decided to move up the deadline for the pledge forms and the first dues payments to ensure our solid financial footing for the year. Can members bring guests? Once members in good standing have returned their pledge forms by July 1, they will be able to request up to six tickets for fami-ly members and guests. The first installment of fees is due Sept. 1 to coincide with the beginning of the Temple’s fiscal year. Can I attend services as a non-member? Yes, as long as you pay $450 to Tree of Life by September 1, 2017. Can I bring my family as a non-member? Yes, once you pay your non-member dues, you can request up to six tickets for services. Do I have to pay money to get in if I haven’t provided a pledge and have not paid the non-member fees? No, you do not have to pay to enter, but you will be required to commit to become a member and to provide a pledge or, in the alternative, you will be required to commit to pay the non-member fee before you will be allowed in the services. Which High Holiday services will require tickets? One ticket will be provided which allows admission to all the services. However, tickets will not be required for the following services:

The second day of Rosh Hashanah service Yiskor and N’eilah concluding services of Yom Kippur

What happens if college students want to attend services? College students with a valid ID may attend all services What happens if visitors who are members in good standing from other congregations want to attend services? We follow a reciprocity procedure under which we will issue tickets to visitors upon receipt of a request from their home congre-gation. What will happen if a visitor is not a member of another congregation and is new to Morgantown? People who are not members of another congregation and have not previously attended services at the Tree of Life Congregation will be given complementary tickets in exchange for their contact information so that we can keep them informed of our activi-ties. For more information on Tree of Life’s new ticket policy for the High Holidays, please email Richard Cohen (rpc116c@gmail.com), Alison Bass (alisonbbass@gmail.com) or Ed Gerson (gerson1@earthlink.net).

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7 Poetry Corner

Elegy in Joy [excerpt] Muriel Rukeyser We tell beginnings: for the flesh and the answer,

or the look, the lake in the eye that knows,

for the despair that flows down in the widest rivers,

cloud of home; and also the green tree of grace,

All in the leaf, in the love that gives us ourselves.

The word of nourishment passes through the women,

soldiers and orchards rooted in constellations,

white towers, eyes of children:

saying in times of war What shall we feed?

I cannot say the end.

Nourish beginnings, let us nourish beginnings.

Not all things are blest, but the

seeds of all things are blest.

The blessing is in the seed.

This moment, this seed, this wave of the sea, this look, this instant of love.

Years over wars and an imagining of peace. Or the expi-ation journey

toward peace which is many wishes flaming together,

fierce pure life, the man-living home.

Love that gives us ourselves, in the world known to all

new techniques for the healing of the wound,

and the unknown world. One life, or the faring stars.

This poem by Emma Lazarus [1883]

is graven on a tablet within the pedestal on which the statue stands.

The New Colossus Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, With conquering limbs astride from land to land; Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame. "Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

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8 President’s Message/Lecture Series

Recent activities by our Education, Ritual, and Member-ship committees are unprece-dented. For example, we have a new parents' guidelines, updated religious school forms, new Dues Pledge form, High Holy Days Ticket policy and request form, a new TOL Directory, the publication of our temple sched-ule thru Nov 1 and our High Ho-ly Days schedule. There is a re-newed activity in our House and History Committees. We plan to paint our yard sign later this

month and then we'll consider documenting the contents of our Judaica display case. Thanks to our Education, Membership, Rit-ual and House Committees for this exceptional dedication.

The year 5777 bears wit-ness that all Shabbats weren't observed, or were desecrated, and lost forever. It was hard to be a Jew with all that distracting external reality, wasn't it? The six days devoured the seventh without Shomer Shabbat. We could have done better. During the year I participated in Torah study most Saturdays and during the week studied Rambam, Chaffetz Chaim, Rashi, and oth-ers. A set study time and pattern would have helped. Maybe next year, beginning now just to be

safe.

We're in Elul now, ready-ing ourselves. Several thoughts come to mind. My family's two-rabbi lineage ceased in late 19th century America. I was bar mitz-vah in the 20th century and, God willing, my 21st-century Jewish-ness will continue. I am grateful for a Jewish life, my wife Donna and family, all the lives of those around me, and the opportunity to serve Tree of Life Congrega-tion. And most importantly, those Shabbats and High Holy Days to come.

May your life in 5778 be even more blessed.

Shalom - Ed

Ed Gerson

Tree of Life Distinguished Lecture: August 22, 2017 Daniel Berrebi, WVU Global Medical & Dental Brigade

Nicaragua, Spring 2017

Photos: Ed Gerson

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9

Share Your Simcha

Buy a Leaf on

THE SIMCHA TREE

$250/leaf $2500/Small Stone $5000/Large Stone

Contact Merle Stolzenberg

mpstolzen@yahoo.com

Remember a loved one with a

YAHRZEIT PLAQUE

$400 DONATION

Contact: Merle Stolzenberg mpstolzen@yahoo.com

Community Sharing

We note with sorrow

the passing of

David Springate, friend of Ed Gerson

Rita Matz,

cousin of Eleanor Simmons

Andy Wilkins, friend of Lana and Bob Klein

May their memory be a blessing

Coopers Rock Shabbat

August 2017

Invitation to a Friday night Oneg

"Hospitality is one of the mitzvot rewarded both in this life and in the World-to-Come (Talmud Shabbat 127a)." We all enjoy a tasty oneg (snack) at Friday night services, but it doesn't happen by itself. As agreed at the 2014 congrega-tional meeting, each member family is encouraged to volun-teer to provide one Friday night oneg per year: two families a week. Onegs might honor a loved one’s memory, or a family birthday For the "Wine and Cheese" Shabbat, Sisterhood will provide the wine; congregants are invit-ed to bring cheese and crackers. When it is a "Mazal Tov" Shab-bat, Susan Brown provides a cake; a family is needed to bring other refreshments. Food should be vegetarian. At Passover, please don't bring anything made from grain. To host (provide refreshments), for 5776 please contact Laura Cohen, lcohenwv@gmail.com; or Richard Cohen, rpc116c@gmail.com, 304-292-3695

Todah Rabbah

to

Linda and Art Jacknowitz,

and Lee Petsonk,

for leading services during the rabbi's August vacation.

Photos Mark Tauger

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10

Yom Kippur,

Taos, New Mexico by Robin Becker

I’ve expanded like the swollen door in summer

to fit my own dimension. Your loneliness

is a letter I read and put away, a daily reminder

in the cry of the magpie that I am

still capable of inflicting pain

at this distance.

Like a painting, our talk is dense with description,

half-truths, landscapes, phrases layered

with a patina over time. When she came into my life

I didn’t hesitate.

Or is that only how it seems now, looking back?

Or is that only how you accuse me, looking back?

Long ago, this desert was an inland sea. In the mountains

you can still find shells.

It’s these strange divagations I’ve come to love: midday sun

on pink escarpments; dusk on gray sandstone;

toe-and-finger holes along the three hundred and fifty-seven

foot

climb to Acoma Pueblo, where the spirit

of the dead hovers about its earthly home

four days, before the prayer sticks drive it away.

Today all good Jews collect their crimes like old clothes

to be washed and given to the poor.

I remember how my father held his father around the shoulders

as they walked to the old synagogue in Philadelphia. “Yom Kippur, Taos, New Mexico” from All-American Girl by Robin Beck

Chiaroscuro Chana Bloch Before the light was divided from darkness,

what was it like, that chaos?

a brilliant shadow? an absence

lit from within?

This is not a question. I’m tired of living

in the land of answers.

At school I’d wave my flag of five fingers,

pleased to produce

just what the teacher ordered.

I needed to get it right.

I knew a man whose first love

was numbers, how sane they are.

Feelings! he blurted, startling himself and me.

Sometimes I wish I didn’t have them.

My feelings know more than I do,

and what do they know?

He left me laughing and crying at the same time.

And what did he know without his feelings?

Four currencies, three fine wines,

two fountain pens, one blue, one black,

the capital of every poor country in the world.

First published in Spillway 17, Fall 2011, and then in Swimming in the Rain: New and Selected Poems, 1980-2015. Reprinted by permission of Autumn House Press.

Chana Bloch is the author of five books of poetry, most recent-ly Swimming in the Rain: New & Selected Poems, 1980-2015 (available at www.autumnhouse.org), which includes poems from four earlier collections, The Secrets of the Tribe, The Past Keeps Changing, Mrs. Dumpty, and Blood Honey. She is co-translator of the biblical Song of Songs, and of contemporary Israeli poetry, including The Selected

More Poetry

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11 Calendar

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017

9/1/17 Friday Micro service & oneg 7:30-9:00 pm

9/2/17 Saturday Torah study: Ki Tetzé 10:00 am – 12:00 noon

9/6/17 Wednesday Rabbi’s drop-in office hours 1:00-5:00 pm

9/8/17 Friday Mazzal Tov Shabbat service & oneg: August / September / October 7:30-9:00 pm

9/9/17 Saturday Sorry, no program

9/13/17 Wednesday Rabbi’s drop-in office hours 1:00-5:00 pm

9/15/17 Friday S’lichot (High Holiday warmup) service & oneg 7:30-9:00 pm

9/16/17 Saturday Torah study & potluck in Fairmont: Nitzavim / Va-yelech 10:00 am – 1:00 pm

9/20/17 Wednesday Sorry, no rabbi’s drop-in office hours

9/20/17 Wednesday Erev Rosh ha-Shanah service & kiddush 7:30-9:30 pm

9/21/17 Thursday Rosh ha-Shanah children’s service 9:15-10:00 am

9/21/17 Thursday Rosh ha-Shanah morning service 10:00 am – 12:00 noon

9/22/17 Friday Rosh ha-Shanah second day service 10:00 am – 12:00 noon

9/22/17 Friday Sorry, no evening program

9/23/17 Saturday Sorry, no program

9/24/17 Sunday Kever Avot (cemetery visit) at Beverly Hills Memorial Park 2:00-2:30 pm

9/27/17 Wednesday Rabbi’s drop-in office hours 1:00-5:00 pm

9/29/17 Friday Kol Nidrei (Erev Yom Kippur) service 7:30-9:00 pm

9/30/17 Saturday Yom Kippur children’s service 9:15-10:00 am

9/30/17 Saturday Yom Kippur day services & break-the-fast 10:00 am – 8:30 pm

10/1/17 Sunday Sukkah building with the religious school 10:00 am – 12:00 noon

10/3/17 Tuesday Sukkot celebration at Mapleshire (near Mon General): everyone invited 2:00-3:00 pm

10/4/17 Wednesday Adult ed: “Jewish Values from Bible to Buber” at OLLI, Mountaineer Mall 10:00-11:50 am

10/4/17 Wednesday Rabbi’s drop-in office hours 1:00-5:00 pm

10/6/17 Friday Pizza in the Hut & Sukkot service 6:00-8:00 pm

10/7/17 Saturday Torah study: Ecclesiastes 10:00 am – 12:00 noon

10/8/17 Sunday Simchat Torah celebration with the religious school 10:00 am – 12:00 noon

10/8/17 Sunday “Adam & Eve in Three Faith Traditions”: panel discussion & dinner with Greater Morgantown Interfaith Association (GMIA), First Presbyterian Church, 456 Spruce St.

4:00-7:00 pm

10/11/17 Wednesday Adult ed: “Jewish Values from Bible to Buber” at OLLI, Mountaineer Mall

10:00-11:50 am

10/11/17 Wednesday Rabbi’s drop-in office hours 1:00-5:00 pm

10/13/17 Friday Lay-led Shabbat service & oneg 7:30-9:00 pm

10/14/17 Saturday Lay-led Torah study: B’reshit 10:00 am – 12:00 noon

10/18/17 Wednesday Adult ed: “Jewish Values from Bible to Buber” at OLLI, Mountaineer Mall 10:00-11:50 am

10/18/17 Wednesday Rabbi’s drop-in office hours 1:00-5:00 pm

10/20/17 Friday Mostly English service & oneg 7:30-9:00 pm

10/21/17 Saturday Torah study: Noach 10:00 am – 12:00 noon

10/25/17 Wednesday Adult ed: “Jewish Values from Bible to Buber” at OLLI, Mountaineer Mall 10:00-11:50 am

10/25/17 Wednesday Rabbi’s drop-in office hours 1:00-5:00 pm

10/27/17 Friday It’s Morning Somewhere service & oneg 7:30-9:00 pm

10/28/17 Saturday Torah study: Lech L’cha 10:00 am – 12:00 noon

11/1/17 Wednesday Adult ed: “Jewish Values from Bible to Buber” at OLLI, Mountaineer Mall 10:00-11:50 am

11/1/17 Wednesday Rabbi’s drop-in office hours 1:00-5:00 pm

Visit http://etzhaim.org

12

Tree of Life Congregation PO Box 791 Morgantown, WV 26507-0791 (304) 292-7029 http://etzhaim.org

FIRST CLASS MAIL

Mazal Tov Shabbat - Friday, September 8th

Join us as we celebrate congregants birthdays, anniversaries and other special occasions. Honorees for August/September/October will be blessed by Rabbi Joe Friday night, September 8th, and will get to enjoy a delicious cake compliments of Susan Brown. We try to keep the lists accurate and up-to-date. If you find a discrepancy, please

let Linda Jacknowitz know: ljacknowitz@frontier.com

August Anne Behr Denise and Al Berrebi Al Berrebi Ilene Blacksberg Amy Feinberg Henry Gould Rabbi Joe Hample Erik Edwards Elliott Edwards Art and Linda Jacknowitz Linda Jacknowitz Millie Karlin Martha Lass Maureen and Yoav Kaddar Maureen Kaddar Lana and Robert Klein Susan and Neal Newfield Ann and Marty Pushkin Bonnie and Steve Sharkey Ruth Siegel

Leah Stern Mark Tauger Max Snider Daya Masada and Rodney Wright Rodney Wright

September Anne S. and Nyles Charon Nyles Charon Judy Cohen Monique Gingold Donna Bolyard Sharon and Bob Hildebrand Norman Lass Ken Lempert Joyce Kohan Neal Newfield Lisa and Michael Stern Paul Siegel Sheila Wexler and John Fuller

October Linda and Roger Abrahams Craig Behr Anne and Craig Behr Laura Cohen Denise Berrebi Rosa Becker Jean and Henry Gould Lee Kass and Bob Hunt Emily Layman Rusty Mall Bennett Millstone Gwen Rosenbluth Susan Brown Sarah Rosefsky Rita Tanner Cindy Tanner Barry Wendell Alana Works