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| Mah Nishmah We send our best wishes with Dennis Williams as he leaves the Land of Enchantment and heads to the City of Lights. Williams, who has been our tireless administrator for the past year, is moving to Paris to attend Le Cordon Bleu Cooking School. A published author and professor of architecture, Williams, 60, felt ready for a change and leaves for France in early May. Good luck, Dennis, and thanks for all your hard work on our behalf! The anxiously anticipated Membership Directories have been mailed out. If you have not yet received yours, please call Miria Kano at 343-8227. Mazel Tov to Hadar Dubowsky and Dina Berger and their families, in celebration of their upcoming wedding in June. Know that the love of your community goes with you as you enter under the chuppah. One Person , One Heart Minchat Shekhinah by Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb Passover marks the beginning of our collective seasonal journey from slavery to freedom, and from freedom to revelation. Midrashic narratives that describe "Natan Torah" or receiving Torah suggest that the children of Israel were given Torah because they entered the wilderness of Sinai as one person with one heart. That is, they had achieved a collective perception of each other as one people. How do we understand this oneness? The Midrash says that up to that point there was much dissention. People quarreled, focused on what they lacked, complained about what was not yet present. However, when they entered the wilderness of Sinai, their collective perceptions shifted. They began to see what they had survived together, what they had created together, and how, beneath everything, there resided an enduring love for each other. They found the divine through their relationships with each other. Since that time, for more than three thousand years, we Jewish people continually recreate ourselves as a spiritual nation. And in every generation, and in every community, we must find the measure of grace that allows us to come together to lift up the meaning of our existence as Jews. At Nahalat Shalom we are evolving this meaning as a 'Jewish Renewal' congregation. Jewish Renewal holds a vision of Jewish life for this time that is unique in its attempt to bring several aspects of traditional culture and contemporary concerns into focus. First and foremost is the exploration of what it means to be a Jew today. No matter how we respond to this question, it is clear that our tradition calls us to respond in a collective context. Coming together for holy days and Sabbaths, to study and learn, to celebrate individual life cycle events and to reflect upon issues of contemporary society is our primary concern. It is our coming together that sustains our existence as Jews. Our coming together gives direction to the next generation as well. They learn how to be Jewish from the way we model community. Next year is a crucial community building year for Nahalat Shalom, a year that will hopefully expand our self-understanding as a diverse and vibrant place for Jewish life. While I am happily involved in the tasks I have set for myself during my sabbatical year, I pray the community also finds its collective voice and thus experiences a year of deepening relationships and growth in Jewish communal skills. I am grateful to be able to take time to write the book that has been on my heart and mind for several years. The focus will unfold as I begin to write, but I know it will include reflections on community life, peace-making, and favorite traditional texts. I also hope to spend some time learning about and contributing to Jewish Muslim dialogue on a national scale. I also know how wonderful it will be to return to you and continue to share in the adventure of growing Jewish life in New Mexico through Nahalat Shalom in the late summer of 2004. Those who do come forward to lead liturgies, teach and to volunteer in the administrative arena need support. I ask each person in the community to consider the ways you might contribute to sustaining Nahalat Shalom this coming year. I hope each of you sets aside some time to give Nahalat Shalom by helping organize the library, raise funds, lead liturgy, teach Torah, rake the grounds, volunteer office time, be on a phone tree, help set up or clean up at events, write for or edit Desert Sage, come on a regular basis to holy days and Sabbaths, teach in Heder, or any other way you can think to be helpful. Let us come to see ourselves as one person with one heart. We depend on each other's effort to hold a place for Jewish life that embraces our concerns for spiritual existence. May next year grace all of us with blessings and joy. The Kosher Korner By Jim Johnson The term Kosher is often expressed by a variety of people as a statement to generally mean that it's OK, it's cool, it's really good, it's clear, it's right on, it's proper, it's acceptable, etc. Kosher actually comes from Hebrew, which means sanctioned by Jewish Law based on the Torah. It also means kind and gentle cultural respect for the animals involved, as in milk and meat, and to be ritually fit for use without unneeded additives. It is my effort to use both understandings in this column. Have you seen or tried the various types of turkey sausage? They do look really good. The Italian flavored sausage tempts me with their savory appearance. Will I buy any? “No way, Jose.” The appearances of the different brands look really appetizing and appear in every manner to be 100 percent Turkey meat. And, by all standards that I know, they are 100 percent turkey meat. Now, I suggest that you read the ingredient list on the back of the package and you are very likely to find that the very last one is most likely to state “in natural pork casings” or that “they may be in pork casings.” You already know what this means. They are not cool or Kosher. * * * If you check the labels on the ice cream that you buy it is likely that the more expensive may very well have more sugars and chemical additives. I have found some lower-priced ice creams are even healthier in not having sugar but, as listed on some, milk, cream, buttermilk, corn syrup, whey, high fructose corn syrup and a minimal of additives. In observing the labels you may find that the least expensive might also be the healthier. Be cool in shopping. Your Kosher Advocate, Herald Bar-John | |||||||||
