Hebrew Tabernacle of Washington Heights

We won't be able to dance in the street with our Torahs, but that shouldn't stop us from celebrating! Join us this Saturday, October 10th, at 7:00 PM EST for a ZOOMCHAT TORAH! Click the link to join us: https://hebrewtabernacle.org//2020-10-10-ZoomchatTorahPage

There is still time to make a reservation for Special Services and receive the Zoom link for Kol Nidre and Yom Kippur morning, go to our High Holidays page - https://hebrewtabernacle.org/highholidays/ and follow the instructions to email your name, phone and email address. Have an easy fast. L'Shanah Tova

As part of Hebrew Tabernacle's long tradition of fighting for social justice and taking action, we as an organization have agreed to be co-signers of a Letter to President Trump & Secretary of State Pompeo to authorize more refugees to resettle in our country. Read the letter here - https://hebrewtabernacle.org/htc-supports-refugees/ If you’re looking to join a reform congregation that stands on the side of social justice then join us today.

Zoom in Thurs. @ 6:45pm for this Elul reading & the sound of the shofar. Zoom invite is at the end. Generosity / Nedivut From our sources: ... If, however, there is a needy person among you, one of your kinsmen in any of your settlements in the land that the The Eternal your God is giving you, do not harden your heart and shut your hand against your needy kinsman. Rather, you must open your hand and lend him sufficient for whatever he needs. Deuteronomy 15:7-8 Giving even a small amount of tzedakah forces us to recognize the extent of poverty in the world, awakens our compassion toward others, and helps us see our wealth as God’s loan to us, rather than as a tribute to our own worth. Jill Jacobs, There Shall Be No Needy Our sages of blessed memory have stated further that the trait of generosity resides in habit, for one is not called generous until one becomes accustomed to giving, in every time and season, according to one's ability. For one who gives to a deserving person 1,000 gold pieces at once is not as generous as one who gives 1,000 gold pieces one by one, each gold piece to an appropriate recipient. For one who gives 1,000 gold pieces at once is seized with a fit of generosity that afterwards departs. The Ways of the Tzadikkim, The Gate of Magnanimity (anonymous, 15th c., Germany) Food for thought: As you reflect on the past year, can you think of particular times in which you have you opened your heart and hand to others? Have you held back from extending help to those in need? Have you made a habit of generosity? If so, how? If not, what would that look like? Restore What is Broken In this time of uncertainty and fear do not let me rest. Send me forth that I may restore what is broken, heal what is wounded, and engage in acts of love with great and unrelenting determination. I shall do something kind and necessary for someone else. May this be my answer to pain. Rabbi Karyn Kedar, Amen, p. 116 Join Elul Zoom Meeting https://tinyurl.com/y2o4x4dy Meeting ID: 861 3759 4471 Passcode: 585324 One tap mobile +19292056099,,86137594471#,,,,,,0#,,585324# US (New York) Dial by your location +1 929 205 6099 US (New York) Meeting ID: 861 3759 4471 Passcode: 585324

Shana Tova! The High Holidays start this Friday night. We've put everything you need to know about how to join us in one convenient location. https://hebrewtabernacle.org/highholidays/

Zoom in Wed. @ 6:45pm for this Elul reading & the sound of the shofar. Zoom invite is at the end. It’s amazing how lofty spiritual achievements that seem virtually impossible for an individual to attain can become almost simple when striven for together with a friend True friendship is a spiritual connection This is the friendship that our sages speak of when they say, Acquire for yourself a friend True friends, whose hearts are connected as one, receive from and give ...each other good character, holiness and purity. (Nesivos Shalom, essay 5) Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk (1730-1788), the founder of the Chassidic movement in Israel, once commented, Every Jew has within him a particular aspect of goodness and Godliness that no one else has. The purpose of friendship is for two people with differing greatness to come together to connect spiritually, to uplift and inspire each other and receive each other’s greatness.2 In other words, there is a possibility, perhaps even an obligation, for two separate human beings, albeit with differing greatness, to connect on the deepest level and share each other’s spiritual gains. It is only through this connection that one can reach their fullest potential. ‘The best we can be’, it follows, includes whatever my friend can add to my life and whatever I can add to theirs. For Focus Choose a friend whom you feel is a good influence on your spiritual life and make a special effort today to connect to that person. Being in verbal or physical proximity with a person is not the full scope of the connection we are guided to seek. As you reach out to connect with your friend, make that connection as real and soulful as you can, that your nefesh-soul and the nefesh-soul of your friend might knit together, in love. Avi Fertig, Director of Mussar, The Mussar Institute The Season of Return This is the season of return: Of returning to ourselves and our people, Of returning to our G-d And returning to our calling. This is the season of quiet: Of quieting the mind to hear the Voice, Of quieting the heart to hear the Soul, Of quieting the self to make space for the Ein Sof. This is the season of surrender: Of surrendering fear and despair to hope and adventure, Of surrendering odd quirks and old habits to dignity and kindness, And to honor and service. This is the season of return: Of returning to wholeness and love, To prayer and charity, To family and friends. This is the season that reminds us of who we are And who we might become. The season that summons us to return our days to purpose And our lives to G-d’s Holy Word. 2010 Alden Solovy and www.tobendlight.com. All rights Join Elul Zoom Meeting https://tinyurl.com/y2o4x4dy Meeting ID: 861 3759 4471 Passcode: 585324 One tap mobile +19292056099,,86137594471#,,,,,,0#,,585324# US (New York) Dial by your location +1 929 205 6099 US (New York) Meeting ID: 861 3759 4471 Passcode: 585324

Zoom in Tues. @ 6:45pm for this Elul reading & the sound of the shofar. Zoom invite is at the end. Jewels of Elul 2020 ~ Rabbi Nicole Guzik My son brought home a drawing of our family: his sister, two brothers and an Abba with silly grins. Then, I noticed myself. A person with a wide-open mouth. Why am I the only one with my mouth open? He answered, Because you’re the one who’s always yelling. My heart sank. I might be the disciplinarian but I don’t want to be known as t...he yeller in the family. My daughter offered an ultimate challenge. Whichever parent yelled the least would get a prize. And I wanted to win. When bedtime ran late, I calmly asked everyone to head towards their rooms. When siblings argued, I feigned ignoranceclaiming I was in a challenge. Have I completely changed my behavior? Not exactly. But lesson learned. Want to understand which part of your soul needs mending? Ask someone you trust; someone you love to draw your picture. Our own reflection is misleading. Let your loved one’s sketch be your guide for self-healing. I’m a mom. I will sometimes yell; we all do. But I hope Zachary’s next picture will show my grin just a little less widea drawing that shows a mom who is willing to change. Challenge accepted. 1. How would your loved ones draw you? What would you like to work on so that they see you differently? 2. What is a challenge for change you would like to take on this year? Hide and Seek All my life I have played hide and seek. Hide. Seek. Hiding from You, dear One. And from myself, from my faults, from the dusty parts of my soul that have not seen light in so many years, that are afraid to face what needs to be seen what needs to emerge, what needs repair. Expose me, O God. I search for Your presence for the courage, for the strength to become known, to be found, and to smooth out the rough spots, and to live, and to be fearless in the truth of who I am and what I can offer and who I can become and not to hide. Find me. Rabbi Karyn Kedar, Amen: Seeking Presence with Prayer, Poetry and Mindfulness Practice, p. 51 Join Elul Zoom Meeting https://tinyurl.com/y2o4x4dy Meeting ID: 861 3759 4471 Passcode: 585324 One tap mobile +19292056099,,86137594471#,,,,,,0#,,585324# US (New York) Dial by your location +1 929 205 6099 US (New York) Meeting ID: 861 3759 4471 Passcode: 585324

Zoom in Mon. @ 6:45pm for this Elul reading & the sound of the shofar. Zoom invite is at the end. Four Words of Wisdom ~ Rachel Levin From: Jewels of Elul... When I was in 8th grade, Mr. Ben Yudin, my comparative religion teacher extraordinaire, asked the class a question. What are the four words you can say on any occasion? The answer was, This too shall pass. I remember telling my father that night that I would never walk up to a bride and say, Congratulation, this too shall pass. My father replied that it’s precisely the couples who understand that the exhilaration of their wedding day will pass, who go on to have good marriages. Since then, those four words have become a sort of mantra in my life. This too shall pass has gotten me through periods of stress, sadness, even excruciating physical pain. But lately, as the harried working mother of two, I have begun to really understand the value of these words for the joyous occasions, especially those easily missed moments my son waking from sleep and curling his warm body into my lap; my daughter’s face when I come home from work. This too shall pass, whispers that voice in my ear. Turn off the cell phone, put down the paper, and just be. Rachel Levin is the associate director of the Righteous Persons Foundation. 1. What has passed too quickly this year? 2. What hasn’t passed quickly enough? 3. What would you like to slow down and pay more attention to? It Is Never Too Late The last word has not been spoken, the last sentence has not been written, the final verdict is not in. It is never too late to change my mind, my direction, to say no to the past and yes to the future, to offer remorse, to ask and give forgiveness. It is never too late to start over again, to feel again to love again to hope again. Rabbi Harold Schulweis Join Elul Zoom Meeting https://tinyurl.com/y2o4x4dy Meeting ID: 861 3759 4471 Passcode: 585324 One tap mobile +19292056099,,86137594471#,,,,,,0#,,585324# US (New York) Dial by your location +1 929 205 6099 US (New York) Meeting ID: 861 3759 4471 Passcode: 585324

Zoom in Sun. @ 6:45pm for this Elul reading & the sound of the shofar. Zoom invite is at the end. Gratitude / Hoda’ah From our sources: ... Ben Zoma used to say: ‘A good guest says, How much my host toiled for me! He put so much meat in front of me, so much wine, so much bread all his exertion was just for me! A bad guest says, What did my host toil for me? I ate just one roll, just one piece of meat, I drank just one cup all his exertion was for his own household! Babylonian Talmud, B’rachot 58a The first words out of the mouth of a traditional Jew upon waking are: I am grateful, Modeh Ani. It is not merely a prayer. It is a personal statement of being. It is a reflection on abundance before we have even engaged the world. We are grateful merely for the fact of our existence. I give thanks to You, living and everlasting King, for You have restored my soul with mercy. Great is your faithfulness. My soul has been restored. I can live another day. Yet as we travel through the rest of the day and face the prosaic cares it spews forth, we understand that rather than set the tone for the day, Modeh Ani can feel like a momentary aberration. A day full of gratitude seems increasingly unlikely. We said thank you once and first but may hear and say it less as the hours pass. Erica Brown, Return: Daily Inspiration for the Days of Awe Food for thought: Has more of your time this past year been spent like Ben Zoma’s good guest? Or his bad guest? How often do you stop to give thanks for the life you have, and the world you inhabit? Have good things happened in your life this year that have gone unacknowledged or uncelebrated? What might help you express gratitude on a more regular basis? It Doesn’t It doesn’t have to be the blue iris, it could be weeds in a vacant lot, or a few small stones; just pay attention, then patch a few words together and don’t try to make them elaborate, this isn’t a contest but the doorway into thanks, and a silence in which another voice may speak. Mary Oliver (b. 1935) Join Elul Zoom Meeting https://tinyurl.com/y2o4x4dy Meeting ID: 861 3759 4471 Passcode: 585324 One tap mobile +19292056099,,86137594471#,,,,,,0#,,585324# US (New York) Dial by your location +1 929 205 6099 US (New York) Meeting ID: 861 3759 4471 Passcode: 585324

Zoom in Wed. @ 6:45pm for this Elul reading & the sound of the shofar. Zoom invite is at the end. Change Begins with Me Vice-President Al Gore tells, in his book, Earth in the Balance why he thinks that change must begin inside a person’s heart....Continue reading

Zoom in Mon. @ 6:45pm for this Elul reading & the sound of the shofar. Zoom invite is at the end. Careful Speech / Shmirat HaLashon From our sources: ...Continue reading