Congregation Shir Chadash

Cantor Hirschenfang delivered a speech in Washington DC at the URJ Biennial Convention earlier this month.  It’s reprinted here.  Enjoy (and kvell).

Try to imagine what it is like to have Shabbat with 6,000 Reform Jews. They come from all over the United States, Canada, Israel, and, many other places in the world. They are literally all ages, including 250 teens from NFTY (Nat’l Fed. Of Temple Youth).  They are of all persuasions of Reform Jews, from the very classical, to the newly spiritual- with everything in between. They come from congregations of 20000 families to those with 25 families. Can you imagine the task of creating worship for this constituent group? I would certainly not  relish this opportunity..but, somehow, it happened. All 6000 of us spent 5 days together in study, prayer and convocation.   It was truly an enriching experience.

This was the URJ’s 71st Biennial convention. The location in Washington and the scheduling of President Obama was a huge draw.  And, although many might have come to see the president, there was truly much, much more to be offered.  The program started on a Wednesday.  Representatives of the local URJ synagogues were there to serve as volunteers giving directions and information. The opening evening program began with evening worship followed by a plenary.  There were opening speeches of welcome and a keynote by best-selling author, Wendy Mogel entitled, “Blessing of a B Minus”. It was then followed by an address by Natan Sharansky sponsored by ARZA, the Reform movement’s Zionist organization.  Sharansky is now the Chairman of the Jewish Agency in Israel. This session closed with the presentation of the inaugural Debbie Friedman memorial Award for Contributions in Jewish Music. This first prize went to Theodore Bikel who was present to graciously receive it. At the conclusion of the program, those who could still stay up, were invited to the late night entertainment or receptions. There were concerts each night at this time by contemporary Jewish entertainers- names such as Doug Cotler, Peri smilow, Julie Silver (the composer of “Shir Chadash” ), Beth Schafer, Josh Nelson and many others. There were receptions for all interest groups. They included ones for NFTY, Mitzah Core kids, ARZA, GLBT, Small Congregations, J Street, and, even “Friends of Bill W.”.

The next day began at 7:15 with morning meditations on prayer. They were followed by various tefillah options including worship with yoga. Each service highlighted a different cantor and rabbi, a different focus, and, was meant to attract a different community. The diversity was truly over-whelming. Each day provided over 50 sessions that could be attended on everything you could possibly imagine. They dealt with all aspects of Jewish and congregational life. They ranged from presentations on enhancing your temple’s membership, to finances, to worship, to hiring a new rabbi or cantor, to meeting the needs of families with young children, to strategies on short and long term planning, to how to use technology in your congregation, to learning sessions of Torah, to enhancing social justice in your congregation, to successfully utilizing Mishkan Tefillah, the new Reform prayer book, to learning about the burgeoning progressive movements in Central Europe, to pursuing healthy aging for Baby Boomers in your congregation, to facilitating the handicapped in your congregation, to making prayer come alive in your congregation, to engaging your high schoolers, to tailoring to your tots, to examining the issue of equal rights in Israel, to a session entitled, “Jewish Solidarity and Financial Loss”.  And, I have only touched on a few. Most participants lamented the fact that they could only be in one place at a time. That is why many congregations send a delegation. Remember that this convention is only open to URJ Member congregations and it is a privilege to be exposed to the wealth of learning and stimulation that the Biennial provided.

In addition to participating in a reprise of the Vatican concert that 20 of us sang last year in Rome, I was also asked by the URJ to be the cantorial presenter in a session entitled, “Every Person Counts: Worship in Small Congregations”. There I served on a panel with a Rabbi serving a 200 family congregation in Concord, NH and a rabbinical student serving a 30 family congregation in Missoula, Montana.  As you can imagine, we all had very different experiences to share and it was a very spirited session with lots of good and some, crazy, questions.

The Biennial showcased many notables in public life. On Thursday night there was the presentation of the Maurice Eisendrath “Bearer of Light” award to David Boise and Ted Olsen, the two attorneys who fought to overturn Don’t Ask Don’t Tell in the military. There were addresses by Wayne Firestone, National President of Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, and Ehud Barak, Israeli Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense.  The next afternoon had a presentation by Republican Congressman, Eric Cantor.  Even Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz stopped by for a brief visit.  However,  the highlight was Friday afternoon visit by President Barack Obama.  He spoke about the sense of obligation we all have to accept the task of repairing the world through Tikkun Olam.  He told of how that sense of purpose resonates for him personally and applauded the 50 years of fine work of the Religious Action Center and the Reform movement’s commitment to social justice. But, he was most passionate in his fervent commitment to the State of Israel. He said over and over again that America’s ties to Israel were unwavering and as he said, if anyone tries to state something different, it simply is not true. He his commitment to Israel and her safety were steadfast.

And, so charged with a new sense of purpose and drive by the President the conference went into its closing sessions that preceded the coming of Shabbat. The resolutions had been debated and finally passed. They included resolutions on genocide prevention, the banning of landmines, several on supporting efforts on human rights, and, even a resolution on the founding of a new organization for Reform Youth Professionals.  But, the most notable, and most visible of all the resolutions was the one presenting the URJ’s new Campaign for Youth Engagement. Sponsored by 48 URJ congregations, the CCAR, the ACC, the Nat’l Assoc. of Temple Educators, Nat’l Assoc of Temple Administrators, NFTY and a myriad of other organizations committed to Jewish youth, this resolution will become one of the centerpieces for the URJ going forward. I have a copy of the resolution in its full form for anyone who would like to read it and it is also on the URJ’s website. It is a real commitment to engaging our Jewish youth from after Bar/Bat Mitzvah. National statistics are showing that we are losing 80% of our kids after this point and many are not returning to Jewish life. We must make a concerted effort to meet our kids where they are- to create innovative programs that keep them engaged and connected to the Jewish community through high school, college, and early adulthood. The URJ’s Campaign has outlined goals that include the increasing of Jewish camp enrollment significantly by the year 2020, start training and certifying Jewish youth professionals and encouraging the placement of these professionals in URJ congregations, recognizing congregations that integrate Jewish youth into their communities in exemplary wasys and advocating for the inclusion of Jewish youth in meaningful roles throughout the movement. What was perhaps the most stunning about this initiative was that the URJ was able to announce at the Biennial that over 1.3 million dollars had already been committed to this project and that it was implementing a long-term development effort to sustain funding into the future.

From time to time we hear members ask why should be a part of the URJ? Why provide them with any of our scarce resources?? I want to answer that tonight- because as Jews none of us lives in isolation. We often get caught up in our particular concerns and can become very insular. But, we are part of something larger. We are part of Klal Yisrael, the whole community of Israel. Our connection to the greater Jewish world is through the Reform movement. The movement provides a framework for us, for our children. It provides a great deal of resource and teaching. It provides a place for our children to define their own Jewishness through NFTY and summer camps. It provides inspiration through its leaders and their vision. It provides a national voice in the political arena through the Religious Action Center and the URJ’s Commission on Social Action. It provides new areas of innovation in worship and ritual through the URJ’s Commission on Worship, Ritual and Religious Living. It provides a connection to the whole Reform movement that we can find in North America, Israel and throughout the world.  We want to be a part of this. This past week I have had conversations with Merry Lugasy our URJ Representative and Pamila Schuller who is our NFTY representative. I was very much impressed by both women and what they had to offer Shir Chadash. I believe strongly that as we better engage our congregation with the entire Reform movement we will see a flourishing of Shir Chadash, the movement itself, and the Jewish community at large. Ken Y’hi Ratzon – May it be so.

The Planning Board of the Town of LaGrange at its January 17 meeting approved a Public Hearing for the Shir Chadash plan to build a synagogue on their land on Freedom Road. The public hearing will take place on Tuesday evening February 21st at 730 PM. All congregants and other interested parties are encouraged to attend and lend support. More details will follow in the February newsletter.Email or call  Ed Ginsberg (845-440-3463)  for additional information.