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Sept 30, 2011 Oct 12, 2011 November 2011 Proposed Resolution Feb 2012 October 12, 2011
Contents: 10/12/11
- A Deal Has Been Reached For Gilad Shalit To Come Home
- Yom Kippur Reflections
- Opportunities For You To Take Action Now
A Deal Has Been Reached For Gilad Shalit To Come Home
Great news! Yesterday, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu announced that Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier kidnapped by Hamas five years ago, should be coming home to Israel in the next few days. Gilad’s release is based on the fulfillment of the prisoner exchange deal on which Israel and Hamas have reached agreement. For more information read the JTA article “Israeli Cabinet Approves Shalit Deal” by Uriel Heilman.
Yom Kippur Reflections
At services on Saturday, I came to a belated epiphany that the Yom Kippur liturgy is literally the keystone for WRJ's social justice policies. When someone asks, "Why does WRJ take public positions on social issues?,” we need only point to the language of the Yom Kippur service.
We read, “For transgressions against God the Day of Atonement atones; but for transgressions of one human being against another, the Day of Atonement does not atone until they have made peace with one another.”
The theme of righteousness in our relationships with those around us – and even with those distant from us with whom we share the globe – underlies the entire Yom Kippur service. The varied confessions of sins deal with our relations with God but even more with one another – human to human – as in, for example, seeking pardon for “hurting others in any way.”
This theme is brought to a climax in the Haftarah reading: Isaiah tells the people that fasting and wearing sackcloth and ashes while thinking of business and oppressing workers is the wrong way to be “heard on high.”
He then continues, “Is not this the fast I look for: to unlock the shackles of injustice, to undo the fetters of bondage, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every cruel chain. Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and to bring the homeless poor into your house?” (Isaiah 58:1-14)
Isaiah is speaking of atonement, atonement through social justice. His words, though almost 3,000 years old, resonate with us: starvation is rampant in East Africa, joblessness here is at the highest point in years, and members of Congress want to cut foreign aid, as well as health care services and food subsidy programs here at home. Since spring, thousands of people in many parts of the world – not just in oligarchies and dictatorships, but also on Wall Street and in Tel Aviv, are on the streets protesting against injustice.
Opportunities For You To Take Action Now
Food Day—October 24
This evening we celebrate the beginning of Sukkot, a time of harvest and rejoicing. It is also a good time to plan to participate in the webinar on Food Day hosted by the URJ and RAC on October 24th. Food Day is a nationwide celebration of food that is real and healthful and an effort to improve health, the environment, and America’s food system. It is a grassroots mobilization to push for healthy, affordable food produced in a sustainable, humane way. Register today.
Save A Woman’s Right To Choose
The Protect Life Act (H.R. 358/S. 877) severely threatens a woman’s right to choose as affirmed by the Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade. Go to the RAC website, to learn more about this bill and to urge your Senators and Representatives to oppose the Protect Life Act.
Take these opportunities to help to “unlock the shackles of injustice.”
September 30, 2011
2 Tishri 5772
Dear WRJ Friends,
Happy 5772! I love beginnings because of their vast potential. Rosh Hashana affords this promise annually for the Jewish people. Despite ups and downs of the past year, contagious optimism waves its flag. For me, Rosh Hashana always invites making necessary adjustments to move forward, not just reflecting on the past.
As I sat in my beloved home congregation on Rosh Hashana, I wondered if I had seriously contemplated the affects of 5771 on myself. To be honest, I did give it some thought, but then my mind immediately leaped to my endless to-do list. Can you think of women who enjoy the luxury of sitting and thinking? Most women I know are running in ten directions at the same time. Whether you are retired or working full time outside your home, a mother in the ‘chauffeur stage’ or an empty nester, a sandwich-generation member or a woman striking out on your own for the first time, we women rarely stop to contemplate life. We’re too busy living.
So collectively, let’s stop…just for a moment! I have a bold request, my WRJ friends and sisters. After reading this Shabbat greeting, take just five minutes to sit quietly. If that means hiding in a closet, give yourself permission to hide. Sit in your car, go for a walk or have tea at your kitchen table. Put your iPod earbuds in place without the music. Think about this past year. Was it what YOU wanted for YOU? Did YOU make any changes? Did YOU want to make changes? Besides the usual time for maintenance (hair, nails, and the sort), what have YOU done for yourself to embrace life?
If you can’t think of anything you have done to enrich your life, make yourself a promise: this year, I will do something that impacts me. It might be once a week or once a month. Just do it. The truth is that if we don’t take care of ourselves, who will?
So, what’s my own promise? A few years ago, I said I was going to read each Torah portion weekly as a Shabbat gift for myself. That’s still a work in progress; I need to make that happen. What else is in store for 5772? I’d like to make someone I don’t know smile daily – give a compliment to the cashier at the grocery store, tell someone in an elevator she/he looks divine, engage an elderly person in a conversation…on and on. That’s my goal for me – reaching out to others, because I believe their smiles will enrich my life. I hope that sharing joy with strangers betters the world, even in the most minute way.
Let me know your plan! Whatever it is, its relevance to and for you is what matters. One of the most important Jewish values is taking care of ourselves – in body, mind, and spirit. If every human being felt whole and valued, I believe our world’s fractured sparks of light might fuse and bring peace.
To you all - Shana Tovah u’mtukah, a happy and sweet new year.
May the light of the Shabbat candles brighten all of our lives.
Please share this e-mail with your sisterhood.
Warm regards,
Rosanne Selfon
WRJ Immediate Past President
