Today’s words come from Professor Ivy Helman, PhD, I knew her first in Lowell, MA at Temple Emanuel of the Merrimack Valley. We have stayed in contact all these years. She is now teaching at Charles University in Prague. I am all the way in Elgin. We are still friends.

Connecting to the Divine in Nature  

“So it was always, the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting [during the day] and there was an appearance of fire at night.”  Numbers 9:16. 

 One of my favorite images of the divine is the one here: a pillar of cloud during the day and one of fire at night.  This pillar guided the Israelites as they wandered through the desert on their way to the Promised Land.  There are many connections that can be drawn from such a verse and I hope that the two ideas I am providing here for reflection might resonate with you as we prepare ourselves to reconnect with each other and the divine in the approaching High Holy Days. 

 In the pillar of cloud and fire, I am struck by how close the divine is to the people.  They can see the divine presence and that presence guides them throughout the desert.  Where is the divine guiding us?   

More importantly, I think, the Israelites were able to recognize the divine within the cloud and fire, and they connected with the divine by following the presence through the desert.  Where can we recognize the divine in our day-to-day lives and how do we connect with the presence?   

I also find comfort in the use of nature imagery which connects the divine to the world around us.  It is not that divinity and nature, in this image of cloud and fire, are distinct entities.  Rather, they are one in the same.  There is no difference here between divinity and nature.  There is a lesson here I think in how we connect to the natural world around us.  Do we honor nature’s profound connection to the divine?  How? 

 Assistant Professor/ Odborná asistentka
Charles University/ Univerzita Karlova v Praze

feminismandreligion.com 

Yesterday we heard from Rabbi Katy Allen, 

Today I want to include the Earth Etude I wrote this year. It is about trees. Rabbi Nachman of Bratzlav said that we should spend an hour outside in nature, pouring our souls out to G-d.  

Rabbi Nachman of Bratzlav said that we should spend an hour every day outside amongst the trees 

“Grant me the ability to be alone; may it be my custom to go outdoors each day among the trees and grass – among all growing things and there may I be alone, and enter into prayer, to talk with the One to whom I belong. May I express there everything in my heart, and may all the foliage of the field – all grasses, trees, and plants – awake at my coming, to send the powers of their life into the words of my prayer so that my prayer and speech are made whole through the life and spirit of all growing things, which are made as one by their transcendent Source. May I then pour out the words of my heart before your Presence like water, O L-rd, and lift up my hands to You in worship, on my behalf, and that of my children!” 

Debbie Friedman set it to music:: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEH9hipVb8w 

Here is what my Earth Etude said, published on Jewcology:

https://jewcology.org/2024/09/earth-etude-for-elul-21-2/  

Here it is:
“Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall…”
Trees are like friends. Torah is a Tree of Life, so says Proverbs. We sing this as part of the Torah service. “It is a tree of life to them that hold fast to it and all its paths are peace.”   

. Each day when I go out for a walk, I say hello to these very trees. Winter, spring, summer and fall. They keep me grounded. Quite literally.
 

But imagine a world without trees. Without seasons. As our continues to heat up, it could happen. Research has shown that this summer, now drawing to an end, was the hottest recorded.
 

But there may be hope. Those trees may actually be trees of life. In Chelsea, MA two years ago I heard news that there was a pilot project, a test site if you will, to plant trees.
 

What they found was that planting trees could dramatically cool an area and was a long-term investment. 

“So, the white roof and new pavement could help cool the area more quickly, however, the trees are a longer-term investment in shade. Chelsea’s Cool Block will be loaded with pretty much every intervention to control heat, while other cities are trying one intervention at a time. Ariane Middel, who studies heat and urban design at Arizona State University in Phoenix, says, “It makes sense to concentrate cooling in rising hot spots.” 

Listen to NPR’s All Things Considered on how a test site can cool cities in the summer! 

This summer, I heard a similar story. As reported in the New York Post:
“Urban tree canopies and green spaces are our most potent weapons against the collision of the UHIE (Urban Heat Island Effect) and climate change. Unlike air conditioning, which often cuts out when everyone cranks up their units — exactly when it is needed to save lives — vegetation’s cooling effect grows the hotter an area gets. Large plants like trees and shrubs not only shade our homes on the days when the sun is most powerful, but they also cool our environment through evapotranspiration. [Evapotranspiration is when water evaporated from the soil surface into the atmosphere through the leaves of plants. – Ed.] Even a young tree has a net cooling effect equivalent to 10 room-size air conditioners operating for 20 hours a day. Within 15 years, the effect doubles.”
 

Now, like with Jews, where you get two Jews and three opinions, a google search will quickly tell you there is a range of opinions on this. Will trees help reduce climate change? I don’t know for sure. But I figure it can’t hurt. And it will add to the world’s beauty and keep us rooted. Just what I need spiritually before Rosh Hashanah. As the old Talmudic story goes, “Just as my ancestors planted for me, so I will plant for my children and grandchildren.”
 

Join me in planting a tree. 

Today’s post is from my friend Rabbi Katy Allen, who every year does a series of Earth Etudes for Elul. She bills herself as an earth chaplain, the founder of Ma’yan Tikvah – A Wellspring of Hope, an outdoor congregation in Metrowest Boston, the co-founder of the Jewish Climate Action Network, the instigator of the Earth Etudes for Elul, and the author of A Tree of Life: A Story in Word, Image, and Text 

and her words and pictures today remind us how connected we are to the planet. Tonight, Sept 24, at 7:00 PM Eastern you can listen to more of these at “An Evening of Etudes” on this free Zoom program which connects us to each other and to our planet.  

REGISTER HERE 

Arise / לָקוּם 

Enough! 

Too long have you  

stood still. Arise! Draw near 

and walk the verdant woodland trails 

with Me. 

אָז רַב 

לָכֶם שֶׁבֶת 

לְבַד. עַכְשָׁו לָקוּם.  

בֹּאוּ לְתוֹךְ חֹרֶשׁ קָסוּם 

אִיתִי. 

Inspired by Devarim 1:6 

Today’s thinking about connections comes from Risa Cohen, a former CKI president, a retired insurance professional and someone, sadly,  mourning her adult daughter who died last year.. She has seen the ups and downs of connections through the years.

Connections seem more difficult in this time of computer communications. Having said that, the need for connections is as great as ever. Some may think a connection has to be a tight bonding with another person or organization. This concept can be overwhelming and even scary. I personally think of connections as a rubber band, expanding and contracting but always holding together different aspects of who we are. It is complicated. Having said that it can also be simple reaching out for help or giving it. Just showing up. Connecting with other Jews, other people who enjoy the same things or need similar services for their family. Connections are both simple and complicated but like envelopes held together by a rubber band they can be added to or reduced. For me the connection with CKI and its members has helped me get through tough times and permits me to share in both the sad and happy times of other congregants. It’s why I stay involved. And just in case I keep a spare rubber band if the current one breaks. 

Risa Cohen 

The next guest commentator is a dear, dear friend. She is an anthropologist and an MSW. At one point she was my boss, but never bossy. We are deeply, deeply connected, having raised kids at the same time and having lived in close proxiemity. Now, a thousand miles apart we are still deeply connected: 

When we think of community, we usually think of a neighborhood, a defined area. For example, community centers are physical brick and mortar spaces for neighborhood activities. However, for me, community has many more definitions. Community is about identity, about people united by their culture, engaging in cultural maintenance and passing down a legacy and a history. Examples include religion, ethnicity, and sexual orientation. At the same time, community can have a broader meaning, when people of diverse backgrounds and identities come together to accomplish something that is mutually important to them. Community can also refer to members of relatively small, self-enclosed spaces, such as apartment buildings, nursing homes, convents, or shops in a mall. Regardless of their size or type, communities are about people with something in common that they all value. For me, that is the key. 

I view Judaism as a series of multiple, nested communities – individual synagogues, regions of origin (Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Mizrahi, Bene Israel, etc.), city/national identity. We are members of multiple communities, and have loyalties to each. However, the richness of these multiple communities is often reduced to a single identity – being a Jew. That sells us short, both as individuals and as a group. We have so much to draw on, so many communities that have formed us. When people ask us who we are, let us celebrate all our communities. 

Beryl Rosenthal 

This past weekend I was honored with a Lasting Impact Award from Elgin Community College. It was humbling and totally unexpected. I have not done much with the college, although I have served on several boards with the president emeritus, Dr. Sam, and it was his idea.  

As part of this I spent part of an afternoon in July at the college being videotaped for this big moment. The video was then edited down and projected on a large screen just before I walked across the stage. I hadn’t seen it yet. (Here it is… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWGsbKuvupM )

I did a great job of relating the CKI vision statement to what the college does. But they edited out part of what I think makes ECC so connected to Elgin and the surrounding area. So here is what I wish it had said. 

CKI’s four part vision includes:
meaningful observance, and my hope is that as students learn they find meaning in their lives. Meaning isn’t easy to define. It may be different for each person. A quality education helps people uncover what their priorities are and where they find meaning. I always like Mary Oliver’s poem, Summer Day, that asks,  

Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life? 

Life-long learning where we teach and learn together. Jews are known as People of the Book and we prize education and asking good questions. My father who was a medical school professor and research scientist taught at Grand Rapids Community College after he retired from being a bookseller. It is where I first learned the value and importance of community college education. His definition of a Jew is someone who questions, thinks and argues. That’s what you teach people to do.  

Building community: that is exactly what CKI and the College does and that is why I am so humbled to receive this award. ECC graduates and students are everywhere. They are the people who fix your car, weld your metal, respond as police and fire and emts to your emergencies. Where I see them most is at Sherman and St. Joe’s. They are the CNAs, the nurses, the students. My husband and I can’t thank you enough! They really make a difference in the quality of health care in our region. 

Embracing diversly: Like the college CKI is very diverse. We have members that were born in 17 countries, we represent 30 communities, 11 school districts, four counties. We have young families, singles, old people, people with varying intellectual and physical disabilities. ECC does similar things. It provides opportunities for people who may be the first in their family to go to college. It provides opportunities for those who don’t want to go to college but instead may want to enter the trades or other professions, It is a critical resource in the community and I cannot be prouder of having a world class community college in our community. And truly as a consumer of the medical systems in Elgin…all of those people working at Saint Joe’s and Sherman. Kol hakavod. More power to you.  

This year the president of CKI is a D300 school counselor. His job is to sit at ECC and shepherd the dual credit students through ECC. Kids who graduate high school with some college under their belt do better both in high school and college. I heard an interview about this very thing on NPR recently, It prepares students for the world better, For adulting, if you will.  

At Yom Kippur which happens Oct. 12th this year, many Jewish congregations take the words of Isiash to heart when G-d asks if this is the fast that G-d desires. The answer is no. Rather it is to feed the hungry, clothe the naked and house the unhoused. We collect non-perishables and money for a local agency and give a donation to Mazon, the Jewish response to hunger. This year, because of our connections to ECC and our desire to deepen them, CKI will be collecting for the ECC Food Pantry. Food insecurity amongst community college students is a national problem. Balancing work, responsibilities to multi-generational families who may be “on the edge” and their college work can be challenging. So in honor of our synagogue president and my award, that is what we are doing this year. (Stay tuned for more details on that) 

Life cycle events are important. They are what connect us to our past and point us, with hope, even in sad times to the future. This weekend we hosted an aufruf at CKI for a bride and bride. There was such joy in the room. An aufruf is a simple ceremony when we shower a couple with blessings and with candy. Their new life should be sweet. Joyous. Happy. People called out blessings of health, laughter, joy, parnasa, friendship, love. There were three generations there. Both brides glowed and smiled broadly. While the marriage equality logo has been on the CKI website since before I arrived at CKI 12 years ago, it was a first for CKI to have a bride and bridge stand on our bimah. It should be just standard, so I was just going to do the blessings and not make a big deal out of it. It should be no big deal. At the very end of the service, one of our Zoomers unmuted and said, “Rabbi, isn’t this our first bride and bride?” Uh, oh I thought. But no, after confirming that indeed it was, she responded. “Don’t you always teach that we should do a shehechianu for something new?” Yes, yes I do. So we did. Blessed are you, Lord our G-d, Ruler of the universe, who has kept us alive and sustained us and enabled us to reach this very joyous moment. It was powerful. It was perfect. It was just right. It connected all of us to their upcoming nuptials, to our ancient tradition made relevant and new and to generations come and gone. 

As Peter, Paul and Mary sang, “Music speaks louder than words.” Cantor Lois Kittner “wrote this song for her dearest friends. It is a love song about our friendship.” That’s connection. Cantor Lois Kittner, a cantor in New Jersey who was ordained by the Academy for Jewish Religion sings a song for her forever friend.  

Rabbi Michael Zedek, rabbi emeritus of Congregation Emanuel in Chicago and author of Taking Miracles Seriously adds to our understanding of I-Thou and connectedness: 

As to connections, I would paraphrase Martin Buber (this year happens to be the 101st anniversary of I and Thou. Were he alive today, I’m sure he’d say it this way, but he was not sensitive, as we have become, to chauvinistic language. To paraphrase, we become what we are, children of God by becoming what we are to brothers and sisters of each other. In brief, it is precisely in the connections with others that we have the opportunity to meet the sacred. Additionally, I suspect the lack of that quality in our world is another way to account for why ideas about God seem to suffer or at least are insufficient 

Rabbi Michael Zedek 

Rev. Ferner said, “Our longing is a natural outcome of wanting to be one with all that.” He hints at the idea of what we all desire. The world religion comes from the Latin, religio, to tie back up into. We want to be connected. We want to feel loved. To be loved. We want to not be isolated. In Psalm 27 which we read every day this month, we find this line:
“For though my father and my mother have forsaken me, God will take me up.” That’s the kind of thing that Emerson was talking about. That is also part of what Ron Wolfson talks about in his book, “Relational Judaism.” 

Yes, we all create programming at synagogue. Services. Religious School. Adult Education. Social Events. Men’s Club. Sisterhood. On and on. Yet consistently what people say they really want is connection. Community. An I-Thou relationship. Martin Buber wrote about I-Thou.  

“I believe that the key to creating society that is nourishing, empowering and healing for everyone lies in how we relate to one another.” — Martin Buber 

In our very divisive world we need to think about these words. How are we nourishing, empowering and healing? How can we learn to be more so? How do we remember that every person is created b’tzelem elohim., in the image of G-d?” How do we do that when the person doesn’t look like us, sound like us or even smell like us? Yes, smell, recently I was told that someone hadn’t taken a shower and that made her uncomfortable. Others are uncomfortable with people who are older, who might have mobility or hearing issues, who have obvious mental health or intellectual disabilities. How do we bring it back to everyone, and I mean everyone is created in the image of the Divine. All means all. It is a challenge and an opportunity.