Rabbi Bruce's Reflections on Life

 Dear Friends, As we celebrate Shavuot, Shabbat, and commemorate Memorial Day weekend,  I hope that we all find meaningful ways to connect to Shavuot that marks the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai, Yizkor (remembering our loved ones), and when we read the scroll of Ruth that emphasizes the importance of kindness.   One of the tributes I find to be most meaningful  on Memorial Day weekend is the following by Archibald MacLeish: THE YOUNG DEAD SOLDIERS DO NOT SPEAK Nevertheless they are heard in the still houses: who has not heard them? They have a silence that speaks for them at night and when the clock counts. They say, We were young. We have died. Remember us. They say, We have done what we could but until it is finished it is not done. They say, We have given our lives but until it is finished no one can know what our lives gave. They say, Our deaths are not ours: they are yours: they will mean what you make them. They say, Whether our lives and our deaths we...

  Dear Friends, As I turned 69 this week and entered my 70th year of life, I have become even more reflective. In this week's Torah reading, B'Midbar (in the desert) which begins with our ancestors in the desert, we are all counted.  I got to thinking about making life count and whether my life counts. When I was growing up my parents used to talk about their aging and hoping to be blessed with three score and 10 years and if blessed with strength, 80 years.  They lived to 82 and 86. In my 50's I was diagnosed with prostate cancer which was cured (fortunately) and in my  60's I had a heart attack (mild) and I am fully recovered.  I feel very blessed but also very motivated to fill every day with some sort of activity which helps others.   I thought you would enjoy reading the lyrics to a song by Simon and Garfunkel which was one of my favorites and now has extra meaning.  (See below)  Although it is a sad song and today, living in one's ...

  Dear Friends, It is important to me to let you know when we are dealing with a significant loss.  This column is dedicated to the memory of Hazel Solomon whose funeral was on Friday, May 12.  Hazel was one of our Bar/Bat Mitzvah tutors, led services, helped with the Torah ritual as a gabbai(literally "treasurer" helping guard our treasure, the Torah). May 12 corresponded to the 36th day of the counting of the omer.  As some of us know, 36 is double chai (2X18) and 18 is Chai in Hebrew letters.  Each Hebrew letter has a numerical value and chai means life so double chai means double life.  This is all called gematria for those who want to look it up online.  (check out the following link) What Is Gematria? Hazel, with whom I stood on the bima every Saturday for 25 years, was a treasure to our congregation.  Her love of Judaism and the Jewish people was inspirational. When I think of Hazel's life and the lives of the students she touched...

  Dear Friends, This week I want to write a brief tribute to Rabbi Harold Kushner, of blessed memory.  He died a week ago and as most of us know, he wrote, "When Bad Things Happen to Good People." Many years ago we lived in Tucson, AZ.  One of my mentors, Rabbi Arthur Oleisky, of blessed memory, contacted Rabbi Kushner when one of our children was diagnosed with cancer and was having potentially life and death surgery.   I will never forget his kindness when he called us to check in and make sure we were supported.  Our son survived and we are very  blessed that he is well.  I will never forget his outreach and how important that was in teaching me that sometimes the Divine appears in the simple acts of kindness that we perform. I often teach about Rabbi Kushner and want to share an excerpt from his book mentioned above. "Are you capable of forgiving and accepting in love a world which has disappointed you by not being perfect, a world in which there i...

  Dear Friends, I gave a presentation recently where I talked about an old commercial for a cigarette company that was based upon a tune "that's what happiness is."   2:15 1965 Ray Conniff Singers - Happiness Is (mono 45) YouTube   ·   The45Prof 2 minutes, 15 seconds Dec 17, 2021 As we read from  the Holiness Code this Shabbat, I asked the group a question about what holiness is? We are taught that G-d told us we would become a holy people.  As I reflect on this, I do wonder what holiness means and whether holiness and happiness are tied together. When I applied to rabbinical school, I wrote that I believed that a rabbinical career was avodat kodesh, a holy task.  As I approach the 42nd anniversary of my ordination, I do believe that rabbinic work is sacred.   However, as I think about whether it made me happy, I have to pause.  Sometimes holy activity is so intense that it drains a certain amount of happiness from the one who is do...

 Dear Friends, As a rabbi who was trained at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, I have always subscribed to the belief that Judaism is a civilization.  You can certainly learn more about this by either reading Mordecai Kaplan's book, "Judaism as a Civilization" or reading a summary or review of it. One of my takeaways is that we are fortunate that we are free to live as Americans and as Jews, enjoying the best of both American and Jewish civilizations.   After 31 years of serving in congregations I now have the ability to choose what I do on Saturday mornings since I don't have congregational responsibilities.  Last Saturday, instead of going to services,  I offered remarks at the dedication of Little League Batting Cages in a local suburb in Northern VA.  They were dedicated to a man who devoted his life to helping young people grow through their participation in youth baseball. In my remarks I quoted a number of Yogi Berra ...

  Dear Friends, As we journey from Passover to Shavuot, we perform a ritual called counting the omer. for the seven weeks between these two major festivals. This was a grain offering that represented the agricultural significance of the spring planting and harvest. Spiritually, counting the omer provides us an opportunity to think about what it means to journey from slavery to freedom (Passover) and then onto the revelation of receiving the 10 Commandments at Mt. Sinai on Shavuot. As we journey toward revelation I am reminded of when I stood on Mt. Nebo in Jordan, looking at the Promised Land the way that Moses did  As we remember Moses was not allowed to go into the Promised Land and was only given a glimpse.  I had hoped to see Israel from the mountain top but it was a hazy day and I could only see haze.  I was sad until I thought  that perhaps revelation may be the realization that our promised lands and goals are not always clear and...