Newsletter

Beth Ami - Colorado Congregation for Humanistic Judaism

December 2004

President’s Message

After all the anticipation and excitement generated by the possibility of having a rabbi to serve our congregation, we unfortunately were unable to reach an agreement with Rabbi Heyn, and now find ourselves back to planning a program for next year without his involvement.  I had thought that we had reached a conceptual agreement with him, to bring him to Colorado at least 6-8 times during the year.  Yet when we met with him and his wife on Nov. 6, he presented us with new demands that were way out of line with what we could afford, even with the significant dues increase we had decided to institute.   As a result, we concluded negotiations that day and went our separate ways.

A few days later he let us know he had second thoughts about his originally stated position and asked if he still could work with us for a year to see if he could help us grow.  I brought his proposal back to the Program Committee.  We decided that it was best that we not use our limited funds in a risky manner that was unlikely to have a high probability of benefiting the congregation in the long run.  I then told Rabbi Heyn that we were not interested in pursuing an arrangement with him.

I am disappointed but recognize that even with the best intentions and carefully laid out plans, these types of things can fall apart at the last minute.  Nothing is a done deal until there are signatures on the bottom line.

As a result, the substantial dues increase that was to be used to pay for Rabbi Heyn’s services is no longer necessary.  The Executive Committee decided on Nov. 18 to change the dues structure to be more in line with what our needs are likely to be in the next year without him.  It is still an increase over last year because we have additional expenses for the school and have plans to beef up the program with a variety of guest speakers and to conduct some more outreach to attract new members.

I had delayed conducting the membership drive for this fiscal year pending the rabbi decision.  That decision has been made, so we need to move ahead with collecting dues for next year.  Our dues from all members need to be collected by December 15 to meet a national deadline of January 1 for submission of national dues.  A membership application is included in the newsletter and one will be placed on the web site.   Our proposed program is provided elsewhere in this newsletter.  We are trying to have at least one event per month, and we cannot maintain our infrastructure, much less offer good programming, without your financial support.  In addition, an organization like ours runs only if its members get involved and participate in its programs.  If there is any way you can find time to help in any capacity, we would love to have you.  Use the membership form to indicate how you might like to contribute.  I encourage current members to renew and others to consider joining us to help us grow and become more of a full service congregation.  I think we have a bright future if we all pull together.  

--Barry Levene

Membership dues for 2005 are needed by December 15.  You can access the application in pdf or Word format by clicking on the links below.  Please complete the application and send it in along with your payment.  Thanks for your support in completing this annual membership drive on time.  Please contact Barry at 303-750-4317 or levene@ecentral.com with concerns or questions.

Click here for Membership form in pdf format

Click here for Membership form in MS Word format

Next Board Meeting

The next Executive Committee meeting will be held on Dec. 19 at 10:00-12:00 at the home of Gerrie Karasik. Executive Committee meetings are open to all members.  Please come and participate.  The main topics of discussion will be the program for 2005, the school, and the membership drive.  Please contact Gerrie at 303-422-3110 for directions.

Hanukkah Items

SAVE THIS DATE:  Sunday, December 12, 2004...from 11 to 3...for our wonderful Chanukah Party.  We'll have a gift exchange, children's skit, food, and lots of fun for Bubbe, Zaidy, Mom, Dad and all the kiddies. Find all the details at http://www.bethami.com/Chanukah_2004.htm

CAJE  will supply (as long as the items last) the story and the Dreidel to any parent, grandparent, or mitzvahnik who will explain the holiday in a public school classroom. Anyone interested can call Dorey at 303-321-3191 x235. Taking advantage of this largesse, Gerrie Karasik will accompany her daughter Susan Rush to granddaughters Teagan's second and Cooper's fifth-grade classes to talk about Hanukkah. Susan and the girls will distribute a baggie containing a story of Hanukkah, a Dreidel, and a piece of gelt to each child in the class. Gerrie did this when Susan and her brothers were in pre and grade school in the 60s and early 70s, and with Len in the 90s for grandsons Ben and Nathaniel.

Proposed Program for 2005

Beth Ami Jewish  School Report 

By Gerrie Karasik

The Students in our Beth Ami Jewish School continue to come to class excited and smiling. Our eight students ate apples and honey as they listened to Gwen read stories about the meaning of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. They talked about how hard but important it was to be able to say "I'm sorry if I hurt you." They thought and talked about how they could help make things better with their family and friends in the New Year.

Adam shared pictures of his trips to Israel. Then the children were introduced to the Hebrew alphabet and learned to write their names in Hebrew. They learned about Tsedokah and made their own tsedokah boxes.  In just four sessions, the children brought in enough donations to half fill the large class box.  When this box is filled, the class will donate the funds to a charity or organization of their choice.

After learning the story of Hanukkah, they applauded an impromptu performance of The Hanukkah Guest. While Adam narrated, Gwen played Bubba Brayna and Nathaniel growled his lines as Old Bear.  After snacks, each student made a beautiful menorah hanging decoration to take home.

On The Edge Of...
By Bert Rothschild

Shylock keeps reappearing like the ghost of in-your-face anti-Semitism. While theater companies around the country have it in their charter never to produce The Merchant of Venice, it keeps cropping up... and now Hollywood has gotten into the act and will give us its lavish version. And Al Pacino will impersonate that long-suffering Jew.

It once was my article of faith that Merchant be produced and shown to the public because it provides an example of Shakespeare's genius, and genius should not be gainsaid. Those who challenged its reappearance were narrow in their outlook and unthinking in their rejection of great art.

A while back I saw a Denver production of the play. We have superb local actors, and they performed splendidly, but as I watched I developed a sense of disquietude about the message. Afterward, in a general discussion between the audience, the director, and others involved with presenting Merchant, I came away with the distinct sense that Shakespeare's anti-Semitism is alive and well. No, I don't mean that those involved are anti-Semitic. I mean they just don't get it. Some, as the director did, argued that we venerate other great works of art, such as Huckleberry Finn, so Merchant should also receive our imprimatur. Yes, but the proper comparison is with Birth of a Nation, a brilliant movie but no longer shown because of its rabid anti-black sentiments.

Originally, Shylock was a figure of fun, a buffoon dressed in outlandish clothing. Shakespeare wrote him as a comic figure; the play was comedic in intent. What's funnier than a Jew getting his comeuppance by Christians who never question their outrageous behavior toward him? The transformation of Shylock into a sympathetic and tragic figure does nothing to change the reality of the play; it remains anti-Semitic.

Keep in mind that preceding the action of the play, Shylock has faced ugliness whenever in contact with Christians, and apparently Antonio (he who will owe the pound of flesh) is among the worst. In spite of all, Shylock must remain passive to the outrageous behavior evinced toward him by the noble Christians lest the noble Christians torture and kill him. Finally, the demanded passivity becomes too much and Shylock finds an opportunity for revenge. (Perhaps he has gone crazy.) But, when revenge is at hand, a legalistic trick destroys him. Message: Jews keep your mouths shut and step back, or else. As you might imagine, this does not jibe well with the post-Holocaust sentiment. "Never again," is the antithesis of the Shakespearean message.

There is an odd notion that if a miserable attitude is presented in an artistic manner, the message must not interfere with the pleasure of the art. This argument has been raised with T. S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, Mozart, etc., And I say humbug. There is no reason that artists receive a bye, a free pass, when they offer their bile in artistically worthwhile ways. It seems to me that they also must meet decent standards of civilized behavior, or do we have to put up with calumny as a price of esthetics?

Pacino, I'm sorry you made the flick… I'm sure you are splendid… but I ain't gonna see it.

Nice Letter!

This letter was received after Elaine Bloch, Terry Fleisher, and Barry Levene met with a Temple Emanuel havurah:

Dear Barry,

On behalf of our Havurah, Carol and I would like to thank you for your fascinating and informative appearance at our meeting last night.  We would like to make a small donation to your congregation as a token of our appreciation.  Please thank Terry and Elaine, as well for their insights and thoughts which were shared.  We learned a great deal and hope that you will continue to develop and nurture and gain well deserved and needed recognition for your philosophy and tenets. 

Yours truly,

Michael and Carol Sarche

National HJ News

From Harriet Maza: HJ Community Service Month to be Celebrated

“Wouldn’t it be a kick if Humanistic Jews across North America worked together as a movement to exemplify our commitment to our ideals?” asked Cary Shaw of his SHJ Communications Committee colleagues at the national board meeting in October. And so the idea took root, and unanimously adopted by the national Board under the leadership of President Phillip Gould and Executive Director Bonnie Cousens, the fact of the matter became established:  May, 2005 will be known as Humanistic Judaism Community Service Month, and Sunday, May 1, 2005, to be exact, is the suggested date, if communities can possibly make it.

“We plan to spread the news that Humanistic Judaism is active, alive and contributing to Tikkun Olam,” said Shaw, who envisions a powerful national marketing tool in operation along with Humanistic Jewish beliefs. “As Jews we believe in making the world a better place, and as humanists we believe it is up to us; we have the power and responsibility.”

As the Communications Committee sees it, most SHJ communities are already involved in community service, but for all to be doing it in the same month and on the same day would provide a most powerful publicity statement from which each group and the nationwide movement would benefit. Publicity could be shared and provide more leverage for each other’s efforts.

Although the community service parameters have purposely been left loose since so many groups are already involved in community service, the Communications Committee, chaired by Lee Mandell, is still suggesting that congregations choose something for May that will be of high human interest and captivating enough to compete for inclusion in national and local news coverage—something such as the current project of the Boca Raton congregation in helping migrant workers recover from Florida’s hurricanes. Whatever the project, it could include all generations in a congregation working on it together.

Congregations have been asked to report back to the community service coordinator for their area—Hilary Brown, Terry Toll,  BJ Saul,  Joe Steinberg or Shaw, who will chair this project—by December 18 so efforts may be coordinated. For further information, Shaw can be reached at 203-351-7019, 10 a.m.- 5 p.m. EST or at fresser25@aol.com.

Big Picture Issues

Gordon Gamm found this interesting op-ed article in the October 28, 2004 New York Times:

“Faith, Hope and Clarity” by Robert Wright

The Bush administration is suddenly taking pains to calibrate the president's devoutness: yes, Mr. Bush is very religious, but he's not too religious - not hearing-voices religious.

Last week several White House aides insisted that, contrary to the witness of the televangelist Pat Robertson, the president never said God had guaranteed him a low casualty count in Iraq. And as for those reports about Mr. Bush feeling summoned to the presidency: Laura Bush denies that her husband sees himself as a divine instrument. "It's not a faith where he hears from God," she said a few days ago.

It's hard to settle "he said, she-said" questions, let alone "he said, He said'' questions. But there is a way to get a clearer picture of religion's role in this White House. Every morning President Bush reads a devotional from "My Utmost for His Highest," a collection of homilies by a Protestant minister named Oswald Chambers, who lived a century ago. As Mr. Bush explained in an interview broadcast on Tuesday on Fox News, reading Chambers is a way for him "on a daily basis to be in the Word."

Chambers's book continues to sell well, especially an updated edition with the language tweaked toward the modern. Inspecting the book - or the free online edition - may give even some devout Christians qualms about America's current guidance.

Chambers was Scottish, and he conforms to the stereotype of Scots as a bit dour (as in the joke about the Scot who responds to "What a lovely day!" by saying, "Just wait.") In the entry for Dec. 4, by way of underscoring adversity, Chambers asserts, "Everything outside my physical life is designed to cause my death."

So whence the optimism that Republicans say George Bush possesses and John Kerry lacks? There's a kind of optimism in Chambers, but it's not exactly sunny. To understand it you have to understand the theme that dominates "My Utmost": committing your life to Jesus Christ - "absolute and irrevocable surrender of the will" - and staying committed. "If we turn away from obedience for even one second, darkness and death are immediately at work again." In all things and at all times, you must do God's will.

But what exactly does God want? Chambers gives little substantive advice. There is no great stress on Jesus' ethical teaching - not much about loving your neighbor or loving your enemy. (And Chambers doesn't seem to share Isaiah's hope of beating swords into plowshares. "Life without war is impossible in the natural or the supernatural realm.") But the basic idea is that, once you surrender to God, divine guidance is palpable. "If you obey God in the first thing he shows you, then he instantly opens up the next truth to you," Chambers writes.

And you shouldn't let your powers of reflection get in the way. Chambers lauds Abraham for preparing to slay his son at God's command without, as the Bible put it, conferring "with flesh and blood." Chambers warns: "Beware when you want to 'confer with flesh and blood' or even your own thoughts, insights, or understandings - anything that is not based on your personal relationship with God. These are all things that compete with and hinder obedience to God."

Once you're on the right path, setbacks that might give others pause needn't phase you. As Chambers noted in last Sunday's reading, "Paul said, in essence, 'I am in the procession of a conqueror, and it doesn't matter what the difficulties are, for I am always led in triumph.' " Indeed, setbacks may have a purpose, Chambers will tell Mr. Bush this Sunday: "God frequently has to knock the bottom out of your experience as his saint to get you in direct contact with himself." Faith "by its very nature must be tested and tried."

Some have marveled at Mr. Bush's refusal to admit any mistakes in Iraq other than "catastrophic success." But what looks like negative feedback to some of us - more than 1,100 dead Americans, more than 10,000 dead Iraqi civilians and the biggest incubator of anti-American terrorists in history - is, through Chambers's eyes, not cause for doubt. Indeed, seemingly negative feedback may be positive feedback, proof that God is there, testing your faith, strengthening your resolve.

This, I think, is Mr. Bush's optimism: In the longest run, divinely guided decisions will be vindicated, and any gathering mountains of evidence to the contrary may themselves be signs of God's continuing involvement. It's all good.

Of course, all religions have ways of explaining bad news, and the Abrahamic faiths, with one omnipotent God, must explain it as part of God's plan. But lots of Christians do that without going the Oswald Chambers route - abandoning rational analysis and critical re-evaluation for ineffable intuition and iron certainty. For example: maybe God gave people rational minds so they would use them; and this plan meant letting people make mistakes that, however painful, at least lead to better decision-making and the edification of humankind - so long as they pay attention.

I was raised a Southern Baptist, and I still remember going to Calvary Baptist Church in Midland, Tex., my family's hometown as well as Mr. Bush's (though, because my father was a career soldier, I lived there only one year). I also remember the only theological pronouncement I ever heard from my father: "I don't think God tells you which car to buy."

People unfamiliar with a certain strain in evangelical tradition may have trouble seeing the point of Chambers's emphasis on utter surrender. But in the Baptist churches of my youth, it went without saying (though it was often said) that surrender was in no small part about self-control. Because human nature is subtly corrupt, with every temptation concealing a slippery slope, complete commitment was the only path to virtue. Chambers stresses this binary nature of devotion more than some contemporary evangelicals, and that may explain his appeal for Mr. Bush, who became a born-again Christian when he quit drinking and has stayed off the bottle ever since.

Some people who find moderation easy can't understand why for others abstinence is necessary - and still less why it would demand a spiritual framework. I don't find moderation easy, and, even leaving that issue aside, I find being human so deeply challenging that I can't imagine it without an anchoring spirituality in some sense of the word. So I respect Mr. Bush's religious impulse, and I even find Chambers's Scottish austerity true and appealing in a generic way.

Still, it's another question whether Chambers's worldview, as mediated by Mr. Bush, should help shape the world's future. People who take drastic action based on divine-feeling feelings, and view ensuing death and destruction with equanimity, have in recent years tended to be the problem, not the solution.

Chambers himself eventually showed some philosophical flexibility. By and large, the teachings in "My Utmost for His Highest" were written before World War I (and compiled by his wife posthumously). But the war seems to have made him less sanguine about the antagonism that, he had long stressed, is inherent in life.

Shortly before his death in 1917, Chambers declared that "war is the most damnably bad thing," according to Christianity Today magazine. He added: "If the war has made me reconcile myself with the fact that there is sin in human beings, I shall no longer go with my head in the clouds, or buried in the sand like an ostrich, but I shall be wishing to face facts as they are." Amen.

Robert Wright, a visiting fellow at Princeton University's Center for Human Values, is the author of "Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny."

Mazel Tov!

Happy birthdays to John Malcolm (Oct. 20) and Aaron Malcolm (Nov. 12).

Events of Interest—Denver Jewish Community Center

The Leah Cohen Festival of Books and Authors continues through Dec. 12. Find info about it at http://www.mizelcenter.org/literary.htm. Admission is $10 per adult.

The Young Artists of the Wolf Theatre Academy are presenting The Wizard of Oz through Dec. 12. Check http://www.mizelcenter.org/theatre.htm for info about prices and performances.

The Singer Gallery has an exhibit called Not Your Type: Works by Roland Bernier, Rick Griffith and Martin Mendelsberg. It runs through Dec. 30. Considerable information about the exhibit is at http://www.mizelcenter.org/exhibitions.htm.

Shalom, Baby! is a musical program for parents and their children up to 36 months. The next class is on  Sunday, Dec. 19, at 11 AM in Room 207. Come with a friend and both families get in for free (the cost is $10 if you come by yourself). For more information, call 303-316-6317.

Events of Interest—Elsewhere

Hanukkah Concert for families and children:  A Celebration of Lights with Steve Brodsky and Friends.

The Boulder JCC is holding a Community Coffee House on Thurs., Dec. 30 at 7:30. For more info contact Gary at gdkorny@comcast.net.

The Boulder JCC also has an ongoing Jewish Film Festival. On Saturday, Dec. 18, at 7:30 pm, they’re showing  The Burial Society (2002) "A gripping, plot-twisting tale of murder and intrigue - a non-stop suspense thriller that will have audiences doubting themselves at every turn."

There’s a Judaica show at the Boulder Arts and Crafts Gallery, 1421 Pearl Street Mall, through December 31.

Interesting Links

A virtual lesson plan library is available at http://www.chidush.org. It also has links to other resources for Jewish educators.

Israel

Barb Griss contributes these three worthy items:

1. Books for Israel needs your support right now.

There is still time to donate used children's books to ActionIsrael's project Books for Israel. You
can also donate money ($25.00 covers one box) to help with the costs of shipment. If we have any extra funds, we will send it to the coordinators in Israel who currently are paying for gas, copying, internet, and other costs out of their own (very stretched) pockets. Our Israeli coordinators are two young teachers who have put their hearts, backs, time, and money into this project, despite their own work and family responsibilities. We really need to help them out. Send your check to ActionIsrael, P.O. Box 18040, Denver CO 80218. Please make your check out to ActionIsrael and mark "Books for Israel" in the left bottom corner or other place.

Book collection sites: Arvada Covenant, BMH-BJ synagogue, Boulder JCC, Cherry Hills Community Church, Congregation Emanuel, DAT, Faith Bible, HEA, Mizel Museum, Orchard Road Christian Center, Riverside Baptist Church, RMHA, Temple Sinai, and Ward Road Baptist. We thank all these places and all of you for your support. For more info: email to Lynne at wild4him@aol.com
 
2. Israel Soup Kitchen—Dec. 13.  Help publicize.

Please join in and help publicize wherever you can ActionIsrael's new project to help the hungry in
Israel. RSVP to this email to receive flyers for your congregation, office, school, etc. Attend the ActionIsrael Soup Kitchen (co-sponsored by the JCC and the Allied Jewish Federation) Monday
evening, December 13th, 5:30-7:30pm at the Denver JCC. Have some soup with us, enjoy the program and donate some of what you would have spent on holiday gifts to soup kitchens in Israel. It is hard to believe and appalling to think that 22% of Israelis are living below the poverty line, among them 720,000 Israeli children. We will be raising funds and making plans on ways to help soup kitchens in Israel that are feeding the hungry. Bring your families and friends to the Denver JCC Social Hall December 13th and make the 7^th night of Hanukkah and other upcoming holidays especially meaningful this year. To RSVP that you can attend or for further information, leave a message at: 303-316-6341 or email to: soupkitchen@ajfcolorado.org
 
3. Israel fights Alzheimer's.

 The Technion-Israel Institute of Technology has developed three drugs to treat and perhaps prevent neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and Lou Gehrig's disease (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS). The trio of drugs known as VK-28, HLA-20, and M30 which were recently patented worldwide and in the United States by the Israeli developers mop up excess iron before it can trigger chemical reaction between oxygen free radicals and iron, a hallmark of many neurodegenerative diseases. Unlike other drugs currently used against these disorders, which try to replace the functions lost by dying neurons, these drugs halt the neuron destruction itself.

Book Report

From Gerrie Karasik:

 The Woman Who Laughed at God: The Untold History of the Jewish People by Jonathan Kirsch

" ‘Who is a Jew?’... the question was first asked several thousand years ago by the original

authors of the Hebrew bible, and it is still being asked today by  both religious and secular Jews...

After three millenia, we are no closer to a definitive answer--indeed, the only honest and accurate answer is that Judaism is not now, and never has been a monolithic faith or a homogenous people. In fact, the history of the Jewish people such a rich and colorful tapestry with so many threads of  belief and practice that scholars prefer to speak of it in the plural: not Judaism but ‘Judaisms.’ " (p.1)

Kirsch continues listing and describing the myriad and often conflicting beliefs and practices that different Jewish communities now hold or have held in the past 3,000+ years.  However, I was surprised that there was no entry for any of Rabbi Sherwin Wine's books in the bibliography or mention of Humanistic Judaism in the index.

The paperback is on sale at the JCC Book Fair ($15.00) and would make an interesting gift for a more traditional friend or family member who thinks Humanistic Judaism is not a true expression of "Judaism."

For Grins

From Haikus for Jews: For You a Little Wisdom  by David M. Bader

                    Shocking new finding--

                      all this worrying really

                        will give you cancer.       

                     Jewish and slightly

                       dyslexic--I though I was

                         buying a Chai  pet.

                      One of us must be

                          the designated drinker--

                            Jewish carousing.   

Beth Ami Officers and Committee Chairs

President and Treasurer: Barry Levene

Secretary: Sheila Malcolm

Education Committee Chair: Gerrie Karasik

Membership and Website Chair: Jon Budoff

Program Committee: Barb & Don Griss, Barry Levene, Joyce Kohn

Publicity: Barb Griss

Music: Eli Karasik, Jim Kates

Newsletter: Aviva Rothschild