Mazel Tov! The Kane Street community extends a heartfelt Mazel Tov to families celebrating Simches at the Synagogue this month:

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1 Rabbi s Teaching Blending Modern Times with Ancient Ways Now we are in the period of Sefirah, the counting, 49 days between the beginning of Passover, when we as a nation were born at the Exodus, and Shavuot, the receiving of Torah at Sinai, when we took on a mature relationship with G-d through Mitzvot, commandments. As we prepare for the re-affirmation of Torah and its 613 commandments at Shavuot, it is a good time to wonder: What is the meaning of all this? What is the rationale behind the Mitzvot? Why should we scientific moderns take on this complex and demanding system, covering everything from the speech that leaves our mouth to the food that enters? (cont. p. 6) Mazel Tov! The Kane Street community extends a heartfelt Mazel Tov to families celebrating Simches at the Synagogue this month: To: Ariel Krasnow, and Jeff, Marah and Manny Birnbaum on the celebration of Marah s becoming a Bat Mitzvah on Shabbat Behar, May 14. To Lisa Smith, Alan Salzberg and Bayle, Caleb and Fayanne Smith-Salzberg on the celebration of Bayle s becoming a Bat Mitzvah on Shabbat Bechukotai, May 21. We gratefully acknowledge Ariel and Jeff, and Lisa and Alan for their very generous sponsorship of Kiddush luncheons in honor of their Simches. May we, b ezrat Hashem, with G-d s help, enjoy continued nachis with their families for many years to come. Service Schedule for May 2011 Sunday Morning Minyan is always at 9:00 A.M. unless otherwise noted. May 6-7 Shabbat Emor Candle Lighting 7:37 P.M., Shabbat ends 8:41 P.M. Friday night services 6:00 P.M. Shabbat Morning Sanctuary Service Torah Study Group: 10:15 A.M. (Note special earlier time) Special Israeli Culture presentation Piyyut: from Pulpit to Pop Chart with Galeet Dardashti, 11:15 A.M. Sanctuary Youth Services, 11:15 A.M. Tuesday, May 10 Israel Independence Day Special Morning Service with Hallel, Torah and Haftarah readings 7:30 A.M. May Shabbat Behar Candle Lighting 7:44 P.M. Shabbat ends 8:47 P.M. Friday night services 6:00 P.M., Family Dinner, 7:20 (see below) Shabbat Morning Sanctuary Service Youth Services, 11:15 A.M. May Shabbat Bechukotai Candle Lighting 7:51 P.M. Shabbat ends 8:54 P.M. Friday night services 6:00 P.M. Shabbat Morning Sanctuary Service Youth Services, 11:15 A.M. May Shabbat Bamidbar Candle Lighting 7:57 P.M. Shabbat ends 9:00 P.M. Friday night Services 6:00 P.M. Shabbat Morning Sanctuary Services Singing Service, Chapel,

2 Israel Independence Day: Celebrate and Learn This year we celebrate the 63 rd birthday of the modern state of Israel, and invite you to join in these programs: On Shabbat morning, May 7, during Sanctuary services, about 11:15 A.M., we will begin our observance through a special teaching about the popularity of Piyyutim, classical Jewish religious poetry, in Israeli rock and popular music. Our guest teacher is Galeet Dardashti, an innovative Persian American vocalist and Cantor, with a PhD in anthropology specializing in the cultural politics of music in modern Israel. Israel Independence Day is Monday night, May 9, through Tuesday, May 10. We will observe it with a special service, including the Psalms of Hallel and a Torah and Haftarah reading, beginning at 7:30 A.M. Tuesday, May 10, in the Chapel. Finally, mark Sunday, June 5, from 11 A.M. to 4 P.M. when thousands of New Yorkers join in the annual Salute to Israel Parade up Fifth Avenue from 57 th Street to 74 th Street. The parade goes on rain or shine, joining common folk, celebrities, performers, floats and scores of schools and community agencies in tribute to Israel. Pumped and Circumstance: Bogrim Graduation May 15 All are encouraged to celebrate the hard work and learning of our Bogrim graduates on Sunday, May 15 t at 10:30 A.M. in the chapel of Kane Street Synagogue. Our 12 th graders have been studying each Tuesday for the past 3 years, and they will address the congregation and their families and receive a diploma and gift. Share your good wishes with Daniel Bodenheim, Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen, Benjamin Levy, Jonah Nemetz and Jhena Vigrass. Kids, Don t Blow Your Chance at Free Shofar Lesson Kane Street is conducting a Shofar Blasting Workshop for children age 6-12 on Thursday, June 2, from 5:15 pm to 6 pm. Learn the tones and the techniques so you can be a Baal Tekiah (shofar blower) this fall at Rosh Hashanah Family Services. Celebrate Shabbat Service and Dinner, Friday, May 13 5:30 p.m. schmooze and nosh. 6 p.m. services. 7:20 p.m. dinner (baked ziti, spinach pie and more from Amnon s Kosher!). Dinner is $10 for adults, $5 for kids. Please RSVP by May 11 th 7 p.m. at vlieber@kanestreet.org or call Valerie at x117. Kane Street Open House Honors Sacred Sites Project May 21 To celebrate the New York Landmarks Conservancy project for Sacred Sites, Kane Street will be holding an open house in our Synagogue on Sunday, May 22, from 11:00 A.M. to 1:00 P.M. Please come and enjoy photographic exhibits of our recent conservancy-sponsored restoration, guided tours of the Sanctuary and refreshments. We encourage you to invite your friends of all backgrounds as well to learn about our historic building, and the commitment of the Conservancy and our members to its preservation. Our Sanctuary building was constructed between 1855 and 1856 as a Middle Reformed Protestant Dutch Church. According to Kaitsen Woo Architect, engaged by our Congregation for our Sanctuary restoration project, the building is an example of rundbogenstil or round arch style, an architectural movement based on the structural unit of the Roman arch, which is evident in the window and door openings and the arcaded Lombard band of brick corbelling on the exterior, and the barrel vaulted

3 volumes of the interior. Two grants from the Conservancy have enabled our Synagogue to engage architects to report on the condition of our buildings and to recommend what repair and restoration work was needed to allow our Congregation to use these buildings for the 21 st Century. These grants have already allowed us to make several muchneeded structural repairs to the Sanctuary and preserve our beautiful, historic building. The Conservancy has awarded 1,115 grants totaling $497 million to 660 congregations of all denominations. Other congregations that have been helped by the grants will be hosting open houses on the same day. Free JCC Spring Eco-fest May 22 A Spring Eco-fest to inspire environmentally conscious living is set for 1 to 5 p.m. on May 22 at the Jewish Community Center in Manhattan (334 Amsterdam Avenue, at 76 th Street,). The JCC and the ICCY in Jerusalem have created a partnership of Teen Greening Fellows (including Kane Street s Jhena Vigrass) to address Jewish ecological issues. The fest will feature demonstrations, bike rides, and a recycling drop-off. Contact Yael Gavronsky at or ygavronsky@jccmanhattan.org for more information. Chant of a Lifetime: Learn Haftarah Tropes with Joey Weisenberg Kane Street Music Director Joey Weisenberg will teach all the basic tropes (Haftarah cantillation melodies) and prepare students to begin working on a specific Haftarah. This class will be an efficient boot-camp style class, designed for students to repeat the sounds of the Haftarah out loud as many times as possible each week until they get into the kishkes (are internalized). FIVE SESSIONS: 7:00-8:15 P.M. Monday, May 2; Wednesday, May 11; Monday, May 16; Monday, May 23; and Monday June 6. Save the Date: Thursday, May 19, for a member of the white race This play in two acts will be presented at Kane Street at 7:30 p.m. Directed by Kane Street member Miryam Wasserman, the play features nine actors and deals with an actual trial in 1957 New Orleans, when a young boxer's race was challenged. The performance will be followed by a discussion with the author, Warren Burdine. Additional performances at NYC College of Technology's Atrium Ampitheatre, 259 Adams St., will be held on Wed., May 18 at 6:00 pm and Sat., May 21 at 2:00pm. No tickets are required, but for reservations for May 19 or questions, call (718) Shirim v'chasadim Do you have a talent? Music, dance, storytelling, photography, basket-weaving? Sign up to lead a Sunday or weekday evening session for the residents of Cobble Hill Health Center, with Nigel FeBland. For more information feblandgrp@aol.com. Cobble Hill Health Center Visit May 21 Join the Social Justice Committee at the Cobble Hill Health Center (380 Henry St.), as we spend 10 to 11 a.m. with Cobble Hill residents of all ages, schmoozing and singing songs. All ages welcome. Book, Toy Drive for Domestic Violence Shelters For May and June s Mitzvah of the Month, the Social Justice Committee will be collecting items for the Jewish Board of Children and Family Services' domestic violence

4 shelters ( Residents are mostly women and children in immediate danger from domestic violence. Please deposit children's and adult books and children's educational toys in the receptacle in the lobby of the Goldman Center. Divorce Peace Summit for Moms, Stepmoms May 18 Parents in families touched by divorce will want to attend a seminar on how mothers and stepmothers can create harmony for the children involved in the Peace Starts at Home Peace Summit, 7 p.m. May 18 at PS 29 (425 Henry St.). The event will feature a panel of experts. RSVP at or call Kane Street member Ellen Gottlieb at Calling All Mitzvah of the Month Visionaries If you have great ideas for Mitzvah of the Month projects to help those in need, please contact socialjustice@kanestreet.org. We re planning our fifth annual Mitzvah of the Month campaign starting this fall. Celebration for 21 st Century Kane Street Songster June 5 For the past two years, supported by devoted members, and a generous grant from the Legacy Heritage Foundation, our talented and gregarious Music Enrichment Director, Joey Weisenberg, has collected hundreds of songs, melodies and niggunim, which our members have brought from dozens of Jewish and musical traditions into our Shabbat prayer and services. Joey has now compiled these into a very attractive and userfriendly songster, with musical notation, translation, transliteration, Rabbinic commentary, artwork and more. This songster, we pray, will be a worthy successor to the Shabbat Songsters that were created at Kane Street in the mid-20 th Century by our former Rabbi, and noted Synagogue music composer, Israel Goldfarb. Rabbi Goldfarb s songsters went on to enliven Synagogue prayer and song around the world for decades. Please join in for this special Shabbat on June 5. We will include special songs and teachings from the Songster during Shabbat morning services, a Kiddush luncheon and an informal, open group for those who want to linger and sing through the afternoon. Mazel Tov, Joey and Kane Street! Hebrew School Registration Open Registration for Hebrew School pre-k through 12 th grade is open. Registration and a $200 deposit are due for all grades by June 15. The registration form is available for download from the front page of the Kane Street Synagogue website or by request from Valerie vlieber@kanestreet.org Todah Rabah! Special Contributions to Kane Street Synagogue (from Jan. 1, 2011) Paul and Nancy Fink for the General Fund In memory of David Trager In honor of Bob and Gloria Blumenthal s anniversary Leonard Wasserman In memory of Milton Mandel Julia Hirsch Marion Stein In honor of Paul Fink s birthday Robert and Gloria Blumenthal In honor of Sam Rubenstein s engagement Ernest Fried and Laura Barbanel

5 In honor of Eva Lytal Phillips Andre and Rena Schklowsky In memory of Rosalind Roses In honor of Doron Fried Andre and Rena Schklowsky Arnold and Barbara Badner In honor of Benjamin Zalman s birthday In memory of Irving Bennett Jay Brodsky and Naomi Berger In memory of Maier Perlman In memory of Trude Mayer Avram Nemetz and Linda Kane * Donation for the synagogue s Building Fund. Philip Genty and Judith Waksberg In memory of Miriam Schmerler In memory of Pearl and Herman Greenwald June Posner In honor of Ami Blumenthal s engagement In honor of Dean and Ronnie Ringel s new granddaughter * In honor of Josh Gutoff In memory of Harriet Chad Herbert A. and Blanche Weinstein In memory of Bella Schiffman Robert and Gloria Blumenthal Phyllis and Arthur Bargonetti In memory of Bertha Brown Ceil Dresher In honor of the Youth Klezmer Band Kenneth Hudes In memory of Herbert Klein Anne Klein In memory of Bette Kvasnik In honor of Ellen Shaw Julia Hirsch Rabbi s Teaching, cont. The questions are not new. Maimonides (Rambam), in the 12 th Century, wrote that some Mitzvot, for example the prohibitions of theft or murder, were self-evident. Even if they were not written, reason would have determined that they be written. For other Mitzvot such as Passover, Shabbat, and Mezuzah, the Torah itself offers reasons. What about the so-called Chukim, ordinances such as keeping Kosher, for which there is no clear rationale? Rambam did not feel comfortable with the position of some sages that one observes the Mitzvot simply to indicate his or her devotion and faith. Maimonides insisted that all Mitzvot must have a rationale, e.g. some beneficial goal, but that it is hidden from us, either because our intelligence is inadequate, or because our knowledge is deficient (Guide to the Perplexed 3:26). So what did Rambam do with apparently nonrational Mitzvot, like separating milk from meat or refraining from shaving one s beard? After studying the research into ancient cultures available at this time, Rambam concluded that most of the unexplained prohibitions of Torah were given to avoid the ritual practices of idolators: The pagan priests used to shave the corners of their heads and corners of their beards, so the

6 Torah prohibits us. Similarly, modern Biblical scholars have also shown that many of the practices forbidden by Torah have roots in ancient paganism. Rambam s rationalization of Mitzvot was founded in his knowledge about ancient religion, and motivated by a desire to make the life of Mitvot acceptable to the increasingly cultured, modern Jews of his time in Spain and Egypt. There is, however, a danger in trying to find clear reasons behind the Mitzvot. Reasons for one age may not ring true for the next. Indeed, Rambam understood that by his time Jews mostly lived not among pagan and sun worshippers, but among Christians and Muslims who affirmed belief in one, universal G-d. There is also the danger that we will dispense peremptorily with Mitzvot, which our minds can t completely comprehend. How then do we explain the system of Mizvot? Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote, The order of Jewish living is a spiritual one. It has a spiritual logic of its own which cannot be apprehended unless its basic terms are lived and appreciated. Through deeds, we keep alive our life of the spirit, our sense of wonder. Indeed, as many scholars have noted, the term Ta amei HaMitzvot, often translated as the reason for Mitzvot, actually means the sense of Mitzvot or even more literally, the taste of Mitzvot. Through observance, we join not only our minds, but our whole beings with what is Eternal. We do not live today in a world where we are surrounded by Canaanite fertility cults or idols of Zoroastrian gods. But we are still desperately in need of wonder. We need training in caring, in reverence. We still need guidance in turning our hearts and minds toward that which is not instrumental, but ultimate. To outsiders, the life of Mitzvot may seem absurd, obscure, or obsessively legalistic. To insiders, the Mitzvot tie our lives with what is lasting. Even Chukim, the apparently non-rational Mitzvot, are signs that evoke in us the awareness of living in the neighborhood of G-d, of being near a holy dimension. We may not be competing with fertility cults or worshippers of astral bodies. But our lives are battered every day by relentlessly invasive technologies, by an overheated, hyperactive world, by envy and competition. Taking a break to pray, to study, to say blessings over food, to light candles and welcome angels, brings Eternity into today s time. It puts us back on the Jewish way, which is to repair gradually the world to bring it finally to complete redemption. Shabbat Shalom.