Synagogue Updates

Friends, 

This week I have the privilege of writing my final Sunday Check-in (for at least the next few weeks) and our first Elul Reflection of the year - which will be sent out on the next few Sundays leading up to Rosh Hashanah.  Our Elul Reflection Emails will feature different congregants and staff members sharing how they are preparing for the High Holidays. This is complimentary to the videos Rabbi Cooper asked people to create in his email last week. If you have a special ritual or tradition to share, or you are approaching the holidays in a different way this year, please send them my way and we might include it in the Elul Reflections. The Elul Reflections will also feature a musical selection chosen by the Hazzan to help our community mentally prepare for the holy day season. 

But for now, the check-in... How are you holding up and how can we be of help to you?  Could you use a call from one of our clergy members or a shopping trip or even a special tune sung at services? Please let us know. Our incredible ECC teachers are back in their classes tomorrow preparing for the new school year and I have to admit to having a nervous ball of energy in my stomach like I used to before starting a new school year. It is a strange feeling of normalcy actually. 

This week is the final week of our Summer Challah Initiative. A few of our regular bakers are traveling this week, so if you bake challah and would like to do a mitzvah this week, please join us! Of course, we welcome more people to also sign up to have a challah delivered to them as well. Please sign up to bake or receive a challah here. 

Over the next few weeks, even though you might not be hearing directly from me as much, please do not hesitate to reach out if there is anything we can be doing to support you.

And now for the Elul Reflection (sorry, double email equals a longer email)

I am writing this note on my way home from Longwood Gardens (Yeah for my wife for driving!). Today, in our walk, we discovered a beautiful water fall that we have never seen before. (Photo from the top of the water fall below) I love that every time we go to Longwood Gardens, it is a new experience, even though the season might be the same. 

I am trying to remind myself of this during this High Holiday season. While there are opportunities to have new experiences each year, it feels really important to me this particular year. I believe the format of services this year might help us find moments of inspiration and of community that we have not normally been able to experience in the past. Rabbi Cooper wrote about this as a goal in his email this past week. 

To that end, I am reflecting on two short pieces that I have read recently that are inspiring me this month as I try to experience the holy days from a new mindset. They represent the themes of community and not always doing things the same way. I am including them at the bottom of this email. 

This week's selection by the Hazzan is of Achat Sha'alti, Psalm 27. This psalm is recited daily during Elul and we hope it helps you begin the new year in a positive frame of mind. 

Wishing you a meaningful week,

Ken

The Importance of Community

A wise teacher once brought balloons to school, told her pupils to blow them up and write their name on one. After the children tossed their balloons into the hall, the teacher moved through the hall mixing them all up.

The kids were given five minutes to find the balloon with their name on it, but though they searched frantically, no one found their own balloon.

Then the teacher told them to take the balloon closest to them and give it to the person whose name was on it. In less than two minutes, everyone was holding their own balloon.

The teacher said to the children, “These balloons are like happiness. We won't find it when we're only searching for our own. But if we care about someone else's happiness...it will ultimately help us find our own.”

Don't Let Monkeys Inhibit Change

Long ago, five menacing monkey were placed in a cage In that cage was a ladder that led to a ripe bunch of bananas. The catch was that a powerful water hose was connected to the ladder. 

When the first money raced up the ladder to reach for a banana, the entire cage was drenched with water. Another curious monkey made an attempt. She rushed up the ladder, greedy to grasp the yellow bundle, but she, too, triggered a shower on the cage. At this point, it became clear to the moneys that if one of them reached for the bananas, they would get soaked. 

Each time one of the original monkeys was swapped out of the cage for a new monkey, the newcomer would immediately race toward the alluring fruit, but the group would beat him down before he made it up the ladder. This cycle repeated each time a new monkey was introduced to the cage. 

Later the fire hose was removed, but it didn't matter. The monkeys already had their lesson hardwired, don't reach for the bananas. One by one, the monkeys were replaced until none of the original five were in the cage. The same behavior persisted. 

Why? Because that's the way we do things around here.