You never know the connections you build. While I was on vacation in Orlando, I got an email from someone at Oakton Community College, who had gotten my name from Women of the Wall. Could I speak on a panel in March on Feminism and Religion? Me? Aren’t there other women in Chicagoland more qualified than me? You go all the way to Israel to come back to me in Elgin? You just never know how this networking stuff works. Of course I will. Every time I serve on a panel and say I am Rabbi Margaret Frisch Klein from Congregation Kneseth Israel, I build the congregation. There are still people who do not know that there is a synagogue in Elgin, even after 123 years. So Friday morning found me driving to Oakton. Having attended Oakton Elementary School in Evanston, it felt a little like coming home. More on that later.

There were five women on the panel. A Catholic who lives in Evanston and works for Women’s Ordination of Priests, http://www.womensordination.org an attorney who works for child protective services for the state and calls herself a feminist Morman, a Buddhist woman who with her husband opened a meditation center and a Muslim who founded the Side Entrance, http://sideentrance.tumblr.com

There were three questions that we were asked to prepare. I joked that in this season of Passover, I would expect FOUR Questions.

This is a topic that is near and dear to my heart. When I decided to be a rabbi, I didn’t set out to be a woman rabbi, but as you might have noticed, that is what I am. No escaping or ignoring it. My first week of rabbinical school I got a mikveh question from the rabbi’s wife. I routinely get questions about domestic violence, rape, nursing, weaning, menopause. I think women are not necessarily comfortable asking their male rabbis these types of questions.

I started my discussion with props: an orange on a seder plate in order to show how Judaism is a layered tradition and to tell both parts of the story, a picture of Barbie wearing tefilin and my Woman of the Wall tallit.

I felt both underprepared and over prepared. I was glad I went to the plenary session entitled Glitter Science to put this event in a context. How do we market science to girls? How much pink and purple and glitter? How do we make sure that girls stay interested, are nurtured, are encouraged, are prepared and stay involved? The research is clear. The more diverse a workplace is, the more likely it is to be successful at problem solving and EVEN at making more money.

So the questions:

1. How does your faith tradition nourish you as a woman?

I found this question challenging. So did the other panelists. There is no question that my faith nourishes me, in all sorts of ways. But as a woman. It felt like reading a page of Talmud. There are even some times where instead of nourishing me, it is an impediment.

Nonetheless, when I thought about it I found that the traditions that are unique to women to be nourishing.

I love lighting Shabbat candles and the peace that can envelope a house when we prepare for Shabbat.

I like baking challah—even if I rarely get to do it anymore. Again that sense of shalom bayit, peace of the house with the pleasing smell of baking bread can be transformative in a busy week.

I like mikveh, the Jewish ritual bath. It has been the source of much solace and healing in my own life, particularly as a violent crime that was perpetrated on me—precisely because I am a woman. There is something about immersing monthly that enabled me to see myself as loveable and holy once again. I could talk about that aspect at length—and have on a different panel at a national mikveh conference hosted by Mayyim Hayyim in Boston where I chaired the panel on mikveh for healing and hope. It wasn’t one single immersion, that helped heal for me; it was the rhythm of going every month. However, others would argue, including my own mother, that the use of mikveh is how women are still enslaved in Judaism—or at the very least it is a misogynist religion. (And during the panel the convener had to define misogynist since more than one panelist used the term.)

I realize that part of what I love about Judaism is that it is rooted in tradition—all the way back to the matriarchs, Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah. However, this is a tradition that has continued to evolve so that it is flexible enough to meet the spiritual needs today. Those matriarchs did not used to be included in our daily service. Now for denominations they are. People are writing new rituals that include a girl’s baby naming, or a Bat Mitzvah or a ceremony to mark learning to read, getting a driver’s license, leaving for college or becoming menopausal. And some of these are even happening in the Orthodox world.

Prayer nourishes me as a woman. One of the first classes I taught a fifth grade girl argued with me that God is never male nor female so why was I using masculine pronouns. She was right. And this was 1983—early in Jewish feminism. There are even ample examples of God as neither male nor female or having female imagery. El Shaddai, HaRachamim, Shechinah to name a few.

On the panel I heard similar themes. The Muslim reminded me that God is neither male nor female and that it wasn’t Eve who tempted Adam. Hagar is a good role model for providing for her child. The Buddhist talked about the argument to ordain women going all the way back to the Buddha’s aunt who argued for women’s ordination. After that there were Buddhist nuns.

2. What does it mean to be a feminist in your religious tradition?

This week Gloria Steinmen celebrated her 81st birthday. This is Women’s History Month and we observed International Women’s Day and Girl Scout Week earlier this month so it seems appropriate that this panel finishes out March. And so I wonder–what does this picture of Barbie wearing tefilin, the Jewish leather prayer straps usually the domain of men mean? It could mean that as Jewish women we have made it in America. Or it could mean that we as Jews have made it in America. Or could it be something else, because as feminists, is it the image of Barbie we want for our daughters?

As the Jew on the panel, I get to claim Gloria Steinem, and many of the early feminists as Jews. Or at least secular New York Jews and that is a category by itself. Bella Abzug, Rachel Adler, Susan Brownmiller, Merle Feld, Betty Friedan, Debbie Friedman, Letty Cohen Pogrebin, Marge Piercy, Judith Plaskow. So many household names. And my own mother who worked tirelessly for women’s rights, equal pay for women and gave up a promising scientific career because she got pregnant with me. Yes, I am the reason my mother did not win a Nobel prize for medicine although her office at Columbia did! There are many women whom I stand on their shoulders. Beruiah, the wife of Rav in the Talmud who also was a teacher, Gluckel of Hamlin, who owned her own business in the 1600s and went all over Europe to fairs to sell her wares and to marry off her children. And she kept a journal so we have a record of it all. Rabbi Regina Jonas, the first modern woman rabbi ordained in Germany in the early 1940s and was killed at Auschwitz. Rabbi Sally Prieslan, the first woman rabbi ordained in the Reform Movement in 1972, Dr. Susannah Heschel, who edited On Being a Jewish Feminist, Blu Greenberg, who wrote How to Run a Traditional Jewish Household, and On Women and Judaism, Rabbi Dr. Judith Hauptman, author of Rereading the Rabbis and ordained by the Academy for Jewish Religion, while being a Talmud professor at JTS, Dr. Rivka Haut, one of my professors and one of the founders of the Women of the Wall, Anat Hoffman, the executive director of Israel Religious Action Center and the director of Women of the Wall and so, so many others.

Unlike other people on this panel, my tradition has been ordaining women for seven decades and roughly half of all rabbis in the United States are women. Having a Bat Mitzvah is standard. Baby girls have a baby naming to welcome them into the covenant. Men and women sit together in many congregations and even in the Orthodox world you can find women’s minyans, prayer groups, Bat Mitzvahs, baby namings and discussions to rival this one. There are even a few women in the Orthodox world who have been ordained as rabbis, using the term Rabbah or Maharat, and I applaud Rabbi Avi Weiss and Rabbah Sarah Hurvitz for having the courage to do this. There is even the JOFA, The Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance, not an oxymoron. https://www.jofa.org You might even want to use the old phrase, “You’ve come a long way, baby.”

It makes me feel good to think about each of them. But it is not as simple as that. Judaism is a 5000 year tradition that prides itself on having more than one answer to any question. Let’s take Judith Hauptman’s book. Were the rabbis of the Talmud misogynist? In some ways they were ahead of their time and the surrounding cultures. They allowed for divorce and remarriage, for abortion, for punishment for rape. They allowed for women to pray—even required it. Women read Torah, some wore tefilin, some even blew shofar or were mohels (people who perform circumcision.

Yet today in some places in Judaism, those are not the case. When I lived in Israel there was not a word for woman rabbi in Hebrew, just for a rabbi’s wife. That was NOT what I was planning to be. Then there was the rabbi who told me I couldn’t be a rabbi because I was a woman and that is why G-d had allowed me to be attacked. It took years to recover from that and when I was in Israel just prior to ordination I cried when an Orthodox rabbi blessed me at the Ramhal synagogue in ancient Akko.

55 women have been arrested in Israel for wearing a Woman of the Wall tallit. Others have been beaten for wearing tefilin. In my own synagogue when we hosted a Men’s Club event, a visitor came in, complemented the breakfast that obviously the Sisterhood must have provided, (they did not, it was the Men’s Club) and demanded after being introduced to me as the rabbi, that we not count minyan. I explained that at my congregation we do count women, but that I was sure we would have more than 10 men and he would be welcome to just count those. Then I asked my ritual chairperson to add peppermint schnapps to my morning coffee.

So while we may have come a long way—there are still mountains to climb.

3. How are men and women treated differently in you tradition?  Why?  How has this changed over the course of history?

For the beginning of written “history”, men and women have been treated differently. If you look at the story of Adam and Eve, Eve becomes known as the temptress. Even Rashi, one of our leading Jewish commentators said about Eve that you should be careful about women because Eve was a “gadabout.” Hagar, the concubine of Abraham, at Sarah’s own suggestion, is thrown out of Abraham’s camp even though she is the first person, male or female to name G-d. Sarah is left out of the decision to take Isaac up the mountain to be sacrificed. Rebecca is responsible for ensuring the covenant continues but through trickery and the rabbis accuse her of not having enough trust. God tells Moses to tell the people of Israel consecrate the people and have them wash their clothes and be ready for the third day so that they can receive the 10 Commandments. Moses adds to this and says “Prepare yourself for the third day. Do no go near a woman.”

Historically in the Talmud, women, children and slaves were not obligated to any of the time-bound positive mitzvot, commandments. So they did not have to lay tefilin, or pray three times a day or many other things. We were told that it was because we didn’t need the structure of those time-bound obligations. We had a higher spirituality. But it left us out. What was seen as an exemption became known as a prohibition. One who is exempt cannot be the agent of one who is required. So for instance, men are required to recite birkat hamazon, the blessing, grace after meals and Kiddush, the blessing over wine that sanctifies time. Working at an assisted living facility as the rabbi, I made Kiddush one Shabbat and this nice older woman came up to me, told me I chanted beautifully and now could a real man make Kiddush so that it would count and it would really be Shabbat?

Originally men and women both had to immerse to be purified after an seminal emission or after a woman’s menstrual cycle. Every one had to immerse before going up to the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and there is ample archaeological evidence that there were many mikva’ot surrounding the Temple. There was a large “women’s court” at the temple and that is where the second night of Sukkot and the water drawing ceremony was observed. After the destruction of the Temple, in 70 CE, it was just the woman after her period and that seemed oppressive to some. No matter how many times people (men?) would tell women that they would feel like a bride again, it always seemed to be unequal and harder on the woman.

In the morning blessings there is a traditional blessing that men recite in the synagogue that thanks G-d for not making me a woman. Most Conservative and Reform prayer books have changed that language to make it more palatable. I am intrigued by a version that appeared in the Cairo Genizah that changes the formulation to “…who has created me a human and not beast, a man and not a woman, an Israelite and not a gentile, circumcised and not uncircumcised, free and not slave.” There are scholarly arguments that this is the prayer the Apostle Paul was referring to when he declared that there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female.” And there are other scholars who believe that Rabbi Judah was reacting to Paul’s words. So I am much more comfortable when I daven (pray) the language that the Conservative Movement instituted with the positive affirmation of what we are: free, Jewish and created in G-d’s image, neither male nor female. In any case, you see just how layered this tradition is, and why many have seen it as misogynist.

As Judaism reinvented itself to be a religion of prayer and study and not sacrifice at the Temple, men’s spaces became dominant, and men’s leadership became paramount. This led to a lessening of the role of women. Nonetheless women were tasked with the education of the young and for personal status—for example the lineage of Judaism is passed down through the mother—the matrilineal argument, still in effect in most Jewish communities.

However, by the 19^th Century, with the Enlightenment and with the growing role of women in society in general, people began to re-evaluate women’s roles in the synagogue and bring them back into the main worship space and in leadership roles. Mixed seating happened in the early 1840s. In 1890 Ray Frank was the first woman to “preach” from the pulpit. The first Bat Mitzvah was held in 1922, the daughter of Rabbi Mordechai Kaplan, the founder of Reconstructionist Judaism. Counting women in the minyan. Women’s organizations such as Women of Reform Judaism and the Women’s League for Conservative Judaism, (Sisterhoods), Hadassah and women’s campaigns of Jewish federations all taught leadership skills to women. All of these have expanded the role of women in Judaism.

Some things seem like we have always done them. When I was a college freshman, for women’s week, I was asked to read Torah. I had always done that and assumed that in most congregations this was true. It was not. So the decision was that I would read Torah on Friday night without the traditional blessings, just for Torah Study. The issue with Torah reading for women frequently gets confused with blood. (Why are men so afraid of blood?). It was told to us that women cannot touch a Torah while menstruating because the impurities would be passed to the sacred scroll. Not true we learn later. Like the waters of the mikveh, the Torah cannot be made impure by a menstruating woman. Women were encouraged in the Talmud to not read Torah, although again it was permissible, because women had time to practice and might show the men up! And yet this is the very issue that is still being fought over by the Women of the Wall who have been denied having a Torah scroll on the women’s side of the Western Wall.

Much of what has been used to “keep women down” is about modesty. It is stated that the voice of a woman, Kol Isha, can be so alluring that women cannot sing in public or sometimes even teach. In Israel this can be taken to ridiculous levels. So in a country where there is mandatory army service, even for women, there are battles about whether women can sing in army shows or accept awards for academic scientific research! Some of it is about modesty of dress. Married women in the Orthodox world are expected to cover their hair, again to not be alluring. They also where long sleave shirts, longish dresses and some groups require women wear pantyhose, even in the hottest of weather. Just this weekend a picture was banned in Israel of a 2 year old girl’s feet. Really. Touch is another issue. Some Jews are “Shomer nagiah”, again because of the fear of touching a woman who might be menstruating. There are even some bus routes that do not let women sit with men on the bus, despite a Israeli Supreme Court injunction against this prohibition.

Some of these battles—over woman’s dress, voice, bus routes, etc are not unlike what we see in the Catholic Church or in very traditional Muslim Circles. I was amazed to hear of the work of Side Entrance and allowing Muslim women and girls access to Muslim prayer spaces. And she was interested to learn of the work of Women of the Wall.

We are preparing now for Passover. On my seder plate there will be an orange. Why is there an orange? There are two stories. Only one of which is true but both of them are relevant. The first goes like this: Dr. Susannah Heschel was given a speech in Miami Beach. On old man stood up and angrily said that a woman belongs on a seder plate like a woman belongs on the bimah. That would have been important enough. And that was the story that was told for a generation. But it is not what happened. And we confirmed it in person with Susannah herself this year when she, my husband and my best friend, a Catholic priest were in Selma earlier this month to mark the 50^th anniversary of Bloody Sunday. The real story goes like this: At Oberlin College in a hagaddah written by Oberlin students to bring a feminist voice to the seder, a young girl asks a rabbi what room there is in Judaism for a lesbian. The rabbi rises in anger and shouts, “There is as much room for a lesbian in Judaism as there is for a crust for bread on the seder plate.” Heschel was inspired by the idea but bread was going too far. It would invalidate the plate, the meal, the holiday, the very question itself. It would reflect that lesbians themselves are somehow impure and a violation of Judaism itself. The next year, Heschel put an orange on her family seder plate because it “suggests the fruitfulness for all Jews when lesbians and gay men are contributing and active members of Jewish life.” Today the orange symbolizes all people who feel marginalized, the widow, the orphan, the stranger, the LGBTQ community. And yes, women. Some day we may all be free to celebrate within the Jewish community this holiday of freedom in the way that makes sense to us.

There will also be a Miriam’s Cup. The Miriam’s Cup was added to the seder in the early 1980s by a Rosh Hodesh group in Boston. By the mid 80s it was already a part of my seders. There is a midrash that there was a well that only Miriam could find, of fresh, living waters, Mayyim Hayyim. After Miriam’s death it disappeared and it is our job to find it again. And so a Miriam’s Cup is added to the seder table. We add spring water to it from each person’s water glass. For me, that fresh, living waters and our need to search it out is what feminism and religion is all about. An oxymoron? No. It is ours to discover and make our own.

One week from tonight, Passover begins. Every year I hear the anxiety level rise as we get closer to Passover. No need! This is the most celebrated of Jewish holidays and it can be the most fun.

This week, like Jewish congregations everywhere, we read Exodus 12 as part of getting ready for Passover. It includes, “And it shall come to pass, that your children will say to you, “What do you mean by this service.” Exactly the same question that both the “Wicked Child” and the “Simple Child” ask. Everything about Passover is designed to get the kids to ask “Why?” It is the ultimate teaching moment

Earlier this week, we sent a letter home to our school parents, with four ideas you can use at your seder. This is, as the letter promised, the longer version. Try one or more with your family. Then let us know how it worked!

1. Did you see the beautiful seder plates that Robin Seigle made with our youngest students? If you put them away each year, you will have a treasure for a lifetime. Or go as a family to a ceramics center and paint one and have them fire it. You can also make a Kiddush cup, an Elijah’s Cup or a Miriam Cup. I haven’t been there yet but try, Color Me Mine in Geneva. http://www.colormemine.com We still have several “antique” Sarah creations that we unpack each year and it is such fun to see them again, like greeting old friends.
2. Like working in fabric better than clay? Make a matzah cover or an afikomen bag. Just stitch two napkins together and decorate with fabric paint, ribbon, etc.
3. Kids like legos? Build a centerpiece for the seder out of bricks. Like Minecraft instead? Could be a great diversion while you are getting ready.
4. Vary the menus. Let the kids help plan. What else can you use for karpas, the green of spring that grows in the ground? We serve a platter of veggies and dip after the karpas. Staves off the fifth question: When do we eat? Tired of brisket? Try something from somewhere else. This year we will do something from Guatemala since I am going with American Jewish World Service this summer. I think Guatemalan Coffee Coconut Flan is on the menu plus chicken with a chimichurra sauce.
5. Make Charoset from around the world. Every country is slightly different. Here are some examples. There is even one from Guatemala. http://www.myjewishlearning.com/blog/jewish-and/2014/04/01/7-charoset-recipes-to-give-passover-an-international-flair/
6. Try a new custom from around the world. Jews in Afghanistan create “whips” out of scallions to remind us of the years of Egyptian slavery. Jews of Turkey put on a play, including costumes. Jews of Egypt tie a piece of matzah in a napkin to look like a sack and pass it around the table. They ask two questions—Where are you from, “Egypt” and where are you going? Jerusalem. Some add the game, I am going to Israel and I am taking with me an apple, a bottle of water, charoset, drum, etc. The book Passover Around the World by Tami Lehman-Wilzig has lots of ideas. So far during Judaism Rocks we have been to Morocco, Canada, Central and South America, China, Italy…Where would you go for Passover?
7. Do you change over your plates for Passover? Do you have a pre-schooler? Buy them a set of plastic dishes and let them change their kitchen over too!
8. Let all who are hungry come and eat. Invite guests to join you. Donate your unopened non-perishables to the CKI food pantry. Calculate the cost of one person’s seder meal (great math skills for the kids, can be scary for the adults) and donate the cost of one person attending your seder to Mazon, the Jewish Response to Hunger. http://mazon.org
9. What else can we put on our seder plate?. At the Klein’s seder we might have an orange, a beet, an artichoke, fair trade coffee and chocolate, a tomato, an olive. What do each of those symbolize? What new symbol do we need this year? What else could represent freedom?
10. Are frogs a plague or a centerpiece? We have frogs everywhere. Can you find the frog sculpture that is hidden in the Fox River Valley? (It is in plain sight!) Take a picture with it. Have a discussion about what modern plagues might be.
11. Music is always a joy. What are your favorite songs to sing with the kids. Practice the Four Questions. Learn a new song. Write a parody. Here is the latest with parodying Uptown Funk. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9v3xjf1kGlg This one of the plagues was on Facebook this week. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biBGKDoolCk I love it. Not just because my colleague and friend from the Academy, Rabbi Suri Krieger makes a cameo appearance (as she did in last year’s Frozen)
12. Read a book with your kids. There are plenty of stories about Passover. I like Passover Magic, which is the PJ Library selection. I also like Abuelita’s Secret Matzah, Miriam’s Cup and Nachson who was afraid to swim. The Boulder News did a review of many http://boulderjewishnews.org/2014/passover-childrens-books/ and there are 381 books for children about Passover on Amazon! My collection of children’s books and cookbooks are out on the table in the social hall. Please feel free to browse!
13. Plug in a video. The 10 Commandments, The Price of Egypt, Shalom Sesame are always favorites. Anyone see the new movie Exodus?
14. Shake the seder itself up. Go outdoors to a park (out in the wilderness). Turn your dining room into a Bedouin tent. Sit on pillows. Do a chocolate seder, a Dr. Seuss seder, a baseball seder, a magic seder. I ordered a new this year haggadah. The Baseball Hagaddah! One idea that we did last year was featured by the Shalom Center. It was very flattering to be named one of the top 50 rabbis and Jewish educators in the country. https://theshalomcenter.org/purim-to-pesach/knowing-where-you-are-going-box-hike-family-activity
15. Have a scavenger hunt—either as part of the shopping experience. I don’t know about you, but we are always missing red horseradish! I think I still expect my mom to call and ask me to overnight it! Or as Joan Carr, one of the national educational consultants for the Reform Movement suggested, just prior to the seder. Write clues and post them throughout the house to find all the parts needed to put on a seder plate.
16. I am a newbie to Pinterest. But there are thousands of ideas there. I may try pinning some myself.https://www.pinterest.com/mjoyfrischklein/passover-for-kids/ Everything I looked at I said, “Ooh, that’s so cute.” Or “That would be fun.” Or “I could do that!” Other ideas can be found in Conservative Judaism’s magazine, http://www.cjvoices.org/article/a-parents-guide-to-passover/, which was a springboard for this writing, Also check out: http://urj.org/kd/_temp/41696217-1D09-6781-A17BFCBC2D9FC364/HH_passover.pdf or Interfaith Family’s website: http://www.interfaithfamily.com/holidays/passover_and_easter.shtml
17. Share your ideas. Use the CKI Torah School Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/groups/165247936957942/
18. If all else fails make chocolate covered matzah with your kids. They will love it!

Don’t panic. There is still time to make this the most fun Passover ever! Thanks especially to Joan Carr, Sharon Cores, Sue Johnson, Rabbi Ari Moffic, and Susan Wyner for helping to compile this list.

From the CKI house to yours, have a fun and festive Pesach,

Rabbi Margaret

What I just send via email to my congregation.

Our synagogue has a vision statement that includes four planks. Three of them are easy to understand. The fourth one causes some people angst. We embrace diversity. It really is very simple.

To celebrate that diversity, as the third part of a mini-series called the Passover Primer, this Thursday night, come see how Jews around the world celebrate Passover. Learn some new tricks for your seder or teach us some that work well at yours. That is part of diversity. I have collected ideas from Morocco, Afghanistan, Turkey, Ethiopia, India, Iran, Mexico and others. Leave with recipes for charoset and so much more!

Never led a seder? This class is for you. Old hat? This class is also for you as we learn ways to “spice up” the seder and make it more meaningful for everyone.

Diverse Seders in a Diverse World: Thursday night, March 26^th from 7-8:30.

But what about diversity? When I first arrived at CKI it seemed that diversity was about welcoming interfaith families into our congregation. I think that when CKI adopted this plank in the Vision Statement they were mostly referring to interfaith families. We are warm and welcoming.

We are still working on doing a better job of this one—and need to.

• For me diversity includes providing access to all—by wheeling the Torah up the aisle so that someone with mobility issues can have an aliyah. By printing copies of my sermons and putting them on the website so hearing impaired people can participate. By welcoming those with developmental delays. By training our teachers in accommodations for those with special learning needs. By providing handicapped accessible bathrooms. By providing handicapped accesible parking places. By making sure that events/membership are afforable while still staying within our budget.
• Diversity includes being welcoming to all regardless of stream of Judaism from the most observant Orthodox member to the most classical Reform. That is a juggling act but one well worth the effort. We may not want to use the word pluralism, but I am proud of our independent synagogue.
• By being welcoming to anyone in the LGBT community. Maybe some day we won’t even have to say that is diversity. It just is.
• By being welcoming to any family configuration: two parents, one parent, divorced, widowed, single, kids, no kids, empty nesters, old, young, interested in services, interested in study, interested in social events. By providing programming for all types of families.
• By continuing working with our bi-racial, multi-racial families. Did you know that we have 17 members who were not born in the US? Can you name all the countries? We also have any number of members who first language was not English. As we continue to be warm and welcoming, our congregation will continue to look diverse. For instance, we need to think about how to teach Intro to Judaism in Spanish.
• And yes, by continuing the fine work the Keruv (draw close) committee and the vision committee have started. By making everyone feel welcome. We have made strides with our dedicating part of the cemetery for interfaith couples, by allowing non-Jews on the bimah and welcoming them to have certain honors, by teaching Intro to Judaism, by participating actively in CERL and other clergy councils.
• By deepening the partnership, as we do, with organizations like Big Tent Judaism, InterfaithFamily.org and Keshet.

Ultimately we need to continue to create a warm and welcoming community dedicated to meaningful observance, lifelong learning and diversity. We need to create a non-judgmental space where people are free to express their ideas without fear of retribution, where gossip is at a minimum, where people are encouraged to explore and grow in their Judaism. And while we are doing that, we will continue to grow and strengthen CKI.

By now the polls are closed in Israel and you are probably wondering why am I writing now. I am writing now because I care passionately about Israel.

I am writing now because whatever the outcome of today’s election, we will have to deal with the consequences.

I am writing now because while I have an opinion, even a strong opinion, I am not sure it is my job as an American to voice it. Nor as a Jew. Nor as a Jewish professional. It is not my place to influence the Israeli election. (even though I would have liked to).

I think there were some remarkable things about this election season in Israel. How a sitting prime minister came to the United States at the invitation of the Speaker of the House to talk about Iran. How that seemed to only elicit a point bump up in the Israeli polls. How 40,000 people in Israel—that is a huge number in Israel—turned out to protest a sitting prime minister and his campaign. How like American politics there was a split between those focused on foreign policy and domestic policy. How like American politics there were charges and counter-charges and lots of fear mongering. Is it the economy or security? Can it be both? Is it a two state solution or can there only be one state?

It is times like these where I am glad that I am a congregational rabbi in a small town. And while I have opinions and I try to foster open, honest, safe, non-judgmental conversation, my opinion ultimately does not matter. Does not count. Only my vote would count. And I can’t vote in the Israeli elections.

I can vote in the World Zionist Organization elections and I have done so. I encourage you to do so. http://www.wzo.org.il/world-zionist-organization

Are there problems in Israel? You bet. And it is OK to name them. It is not, as some have suggested, “airing our dirty linen in public. The problems include:

• How we treat women, so I partner with Women of the Wall
• How we approach human rights violations so I partner with Rabbis for Human Rights and Truah
• How we approach poverty, so I partner with NIF and Hazon
• How we approach pluralism, so I partner with the Israeli Religious Action Center
• How we approach peace making, so I partner with JStreet

Perhaps you do not agree with my position. That’ OK. In Judaism, there is always more than one opinion—and room for more than one opinion. That is how we show our support. Find one thing you can do to help Israel and do it.

No matter what the outcome of today’s election may be, I will continue to stand by Israel. By individual Israelis, friends and acquaintances who are forced to make hard choices in their day to day lives. I will continue to stand by Israel as they work for peace. I will continue to work for peace, behind the scenes from here in the US mostly. I will continue to seek peace and pursue it, here and in Israel, when it is easy and when it is hard. Maybe one day, Jeremy Ben Ami and Benjamin Netanyahu can co-exist side by side like their books do on my office book shelf. I will continue to pray for peace every single day.

Purim is over. I had a lot of fun. It is supposed to be fun. There was singing and laughter. Noisemakers and decorations. Costumes and games. And hamantaschen. Got to have hamantaschen. Yesterday I spent the afternoon after the Purim Carnival delivering home-baked hamantaschen to our “senior-seniors.” For the most part those are the ones over 85. At the request of a 99 year old woman, I brought Caleb. In every home there were smiles. OK—so how often do you see the rabbi, an adult, grown woman dressed in a tutu with a tiara arriving at your door with a goodie bag, daffodils and a dog? You gotta smile. Or maybe even laugh.

And that is what Purim is about. We laugh. We make merry because we survived. I laugh. I make merry because I survived.

Yesterday was also International Women’s Day. March is Women’s History Month. Later this week we will also celebrate Scout Shabbat, the Sabbath closest to the Girl Scout Birthday, March 12.

Why is this confluence of dates important? What is the role of women in Judaism? For one thing, we rely on women to pass down the tradition. Whether it was Rebecca who ensured that the covenant went to Jacob or Tzipporah who took matters into her own hands, quite literally circumcising her son or Ruth who promised that our people will be her people and our G-d, her G-d.

And then there is Esther. Esther who was an orphan living with her uncle, who in a fairy tale beauty pageant becomes the queen. Esther who Mordechai begs needs to save her people. She is afraid. She is unsure. She says no. Then Mordechai says, “Perhaps this is the moment for which you have been created.” (Esther 4:14) It is the point of the story where the plot action changes. Esther changes her mind. She finds her voice. She goes to the king. She saves her people. It is powerful.

All of us have a moment like that. “Perhaps this is the moment for which you have been created.” What moment is that for you?

One of those moments for me, is when I realized that one out of three girls will be raped, abused or physically tortured sometime in her lifetime. That is more, much more than the one in eight women who will get breast cancer in her lifetime. I have spoken out about this a great deal. Sometimes I feel like a broken record. I wrote part of my rabbinic thesis on this topic. I served on the Jewish Domestic Violence Coalition in Massachusetts. I have staffed hotlines. I am now the chair of the 16^th Circuit Court Faith Watch Committee on Family Violence. I partner with Elgin’s Community Crisis Center whose annual fundraiser and auction is this weekend.

For a year now I have been a Global Justice Fellow with American Jewish World Service. They have paid to train me in how to organize. How to find my voice. How to empower others to find theirs. I have participated in deep text study with colleagues around the country. I have made new friends. I travelled to Los Angeles to learn the Wellstone Organizing Method. It has helped me be a better congregational rabbi. It has helped me learn how to build coalitions.

I brought a team to meet with Congressman Peter Roskam. I met Senator Dick Durbin. I made Valentine’s to thank Senator Kirk. I am looking forward to a policy summit in May in Washington and a trip to Guatamala to see how AJWS partners put these organizing principles into practice. It has been exciting. Thrilling.

Now for the good news. American Jewish World Service for the past year has been working on its WeBelieve campaign, to reduce violence against women and girls and the LGBT community worldwide. This campaign has taken on urgency as we watched with horror as the girls in Nigeria were kidnapped. As part of our training in December, my fellow rabbis and I committed to work on a petition to the US Congress to reintroduce the International Violence Against Women Act. We have had over 500 rabbis sign representing every state in the union except Wyoming. I was delighted to work my own personal network and get the one rabbi in Idaho who is the husband of a college roommate to sign!

On Friday, Congress reintroduced IVAWA. It has broad bi-partisan support. It felt especially good as Purim was ending and Shabbat was beginning. It felt like that Esther moment, “Perhaps this is the moment for which you are created.”

Violence against women will not end overnight. The research however is undeniably clear and why AJWS is working so hard on this. If you can reduce violence against women, you reduce poverty levels as well.

Please join with me. Support IVAWA. Sign the petition. ecure.ajws.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=661

Speak out. Speak up. Be like Esther. If we succeed, it will can celebrate. It will be fun.

“Perhaps this is the moment for which you are created.”

What I just emailed my congregation to explain how I see life long learning.

When I was a kid my family never went to Disneyworld or Disneyland or even Cedar Point. It wasn’t educational enough. Our vacations were spent in the forests of Michigan museums of major cities or even one glorious trip to Europe where I learned while my mother did laundry in Paris the importance of learning a foreign language (or two or three). That is a story for another time.

Education was important to my family. It was always seen as a Jewish value. And it is. However, having just returned from Orlando, I have discovered that Disney can be an educational experience. That too is a story for another time.

Our synagogue has a vision statement with four planks. One of them is life-long learning. As I did with meaningful observance in a recent post, here is my vision of life-long learning as we approach my second three-year contract:

Life-long learning is precisely that. Life-long. Cradle to grave. I was recently in the home of a young mother with an infant. I was delighted to see the Jewish books on their shelves. For all members of the family, including the baby. PJ Library is a great resource for building a Jewish library in your homes for your children.http://www.pjlibrary.org/communities/jewish-federation-chicago/38  Singing Jewish songs with your young children, making hamantaschen, lighting Shabbat candles, searching for the Afikomen, activities that engage all the senses are important in early development and build a connection that lasts. I am delighted we have such a talented pre-school teacher in Wendy Barrash. She really motivates the young ones and they want to be at CKI!

Hebrew School and Torah School is important. Although the research shows it may not be the most important tool for inspiring kids to be adult Jews. I am thrilled that with the hard work of our dedicated director, Nina Finn, our teachers, our ed committee under the leadership of Sue Johnson and Barb Razowsky and our parents our school has grown from 17 kids when I got here to 39. The more critical mass we have the more fun we can have. Having an excellent Hebrew School, not just one that is “good enough” is a clear marketing point for the synagogue and one of the ways to grow the shul.

Part of what is making us successful has been the access to monies from two grant that enabled us to buy computers and desks as well as monies from the Clara Wechter fund. That fund is running dangerously low and we need to re-fund it so that it continues to be a source for special projects, teacher training, curriculum materials, etc.

Programs like Judaism Rocks and Mitkadem promote learning and fun. The best way to promote the excellent things that are happening is by word-of-mouth. Some of our newer families have come because they have learned about it from others in the community. Lifelong friendships—between the students obviously and maybe less apparently between the parents who hang out of Sunday mornings. If you look at the congregation’s current leadership team, many of them met hanging out on Sunday mornings bringing their kids to Torah School and becoming involved.

We need to continue to attract students past their Bar and Bat Mitzvah into Chai School and the youth group. Most of our students do continue through aiding in the Hebrew School or into our confirmation program. We need to make the case of why it is important for parents to bring their students to services.

When you read the literature about what makes adult Jews choose to remain involved (there is SO much that competes for all our time, not just the kids and extra-curricular activities.) there are four things that are mentioned consistently. Jewish summer camp, youth group, a college level course about Judaism and a trip to Israel.

Many of our students go to some kind of Jewish summer camp. If you need suggestions of what might be good for your child, please speak to me. Liza Bachrach together now with Elise Kleinman, has been doing a great job ensuring that our kids, 5^th grade to high school have the opportunity to be social outside of CKI within a Jewish context. I am excited about the new Jewish Student Connection that the Prairie Jewish Coalition together with CKI is sponsoring for all of our 8^th-high school school.  Particularly in these pivotal grades, critical mass is so important and many of our students feel isolated as Jews in their suburban high schools.

Birthright is a great opportunity for our students 18-26 to experience an all-expense paid 10-day trip to Israel. Many of our youth have now done it. Then expanding the experience through other opportunities to work, study or have an internship is a wonderful way to deepen our connection to the Jewish people and to the State of Israel. Encourage your young people to consider it.

Never been to Israel yourself? We are trying to put together a congregational trip. Nina Finn and Stew Levin are heading that committee. Interested in going. Make sure they know! It will be a life-changing experience.

In terms of adult learning, we have added a substantial number of programs since I have been here.  Rosh Hodesh looking at spirituality for each month. Kiddush Rountable to talk about Jews in the News. It would be my hope that as the congregation moves forward we have at least two formal adult learning opportunities per month. One that is inward facing and one that helps us to explain Judaism to the outside world. That could be Matzah in the Aisle or any of the fine programs co-sponsored with Big Tent Judaism. Something with Interfaithfamily.org and the wonderful work Rabbi Ari Moffic is doing. Something with National Jewish Outreach Project, like our new Adult Hebrew program or Shabbat Across America. Something with the Prairie Jewish Coalition, Gail Borden Library or some other venue.

I would like to suggest the following as well:

·      Taste of Limmud Elgin to encourage serious adult study. Possibly partnering with PJC.

·      Thursday Beit Midrash, house of study, where there might be two or three things offered that evening, one text based, one Hebrew, one “fun”

·      Exploring the possibility of having some of our lay leaders teach what they know. Classes could be but are not limited to Parsha Ha’shavua, Hebrew, Adult B’nei Mitzvah Class, Introduction to Judaism, American Jewish History through Food and Film. Jewish Art. Cooking. Jews in Baseball. The possibilities are limitless. If there is something you would like to teach, just let me know.

·      Pairing congregants up so that they can study themselves in some kind of chevruta relationship

·      Looking at Chai Mitzvah.

·      Exploring the possibility of a weekend retreat or Shabbaton

·      Scholar-in-residence weekend.

This March seems to be Adult Study month at CKI. Here are the offerings:

• Adult Hebrew. Every other Sunday morning. We met this past Sunday and we currently have 12 enrolled. Through a grant from the National Jewish Outreach Project this class is free to synagogue members. Not too late to join. Next class is Sunday, March 15.
• Java and Jews, March 3 at Starbucks in South Elgin at 8 AM, Blue Box in Elgin at 11:30 and Calibre at 5. A chance to spend time with the rabbi, explore a topic and get any questions answered you might have about Judaism.
• Instead of Intro to Judaism which we offered last year, this year we are offering a Passover Primer, a three part mini-series. People need hands-on, practical ways to celebrate Judaism. Did you know that Passover is the most celebrated of Jewish holidays? Whether you change your dishes over and do a full seder or just get together for a family meal, most Jewish families do something for Passover. However, it can be intimidating and stressful. We at CKI aim to take the stress out of Passover. So come join us for an hour and a half on Thursdays, one or all of the sessions.
• 7:00-8:30 PM, March 12, 19 and 26th
• March 12: Making a seder: From Charoset to Matzah Balls to Brisket, with Vegan, Gluten Free, Low Cholesterol and Diabetic friendly options. A hands-on tasting extravaganza. Recipes and shopping tips provided
• March 19 The Story of the Passover: How to Pick A Hagaddah that Works for You
• March 26: Diverse Seders in a Diverse World. New seder tips, tricks to engage everyone at your table. How do we include our interfaith relatives? What is the connection between Easter and Passover? What if my kid wants to dye eggs?

March 25th: the next Book Group meeting. Join us to discuss the book Eve.

Looking ahead, the fun continues.

April 3: 7:00-8:30 AM. Yes, that is AM! Fast of the First Born.
Ah Sweet Release! Release of the Israelites, Release of the Land, Release of Debts. A Modern look at Sh’mita.

Those of us who are “first born” are obligated to fast on the day before Pesach. Unless we complete studying something and can therefore celebrate! So come, one, come all, even if you are not a first born. We will look at the concept of Sh’mita since this is a sh’mita year.

Shabbat afternoon from April 4^th to Shavuot immediately following Kiddush. Text study of Pirke Avot. There are six chapters of this lovely piece of Talmud. Come learn the Wisdom of our Fathers as we move from Passover to Shavuaot, 49 days after the second night of Passover. We will do a chapter a week for about an hour.

Sunday, April 19^th at 6:30 PM as part of Yom HaShoah come hear Kurt Jacoby’s story of living in Shanghai ghetto during World War II. One of 23,000 Jews who lived in Shanghai, Kurt’s story is moving and poignant. And this year in particular it fits with our focus on learning about Jews around the world.

Every Shabbat there is an opportunity to learn together as we gather for services. Every time we discuss the news of the day from a Jewish perspective we are engaging in life long learning. The interesting thing is when deepening adult study and the Hebrew School, we actually build community at the same time!