My congregation is a congregation that has as part of its Vision Statement a pillar that proclaims, “Embracing Diversity.” It is the hardest pillar to describe and to meet its invitation. I believe when it was conceived it was about welcoming interfaith families. But it actually is about much more than that and I have challenged the community to live up to it—or to live into it.

Diversity also means that we welcome people with physical and mental disabilities. We have recently completed the remodel of one of our bathrooms so that it is accessible. We partner with Keshet so that our teachers can better handle a ranges of special education needs. We welcome members of the LGBT community. We welcome members who were not born in this country and in fact have individuals who were born in 17 foreign countries!

Diversity also means we welcome a wide spectrum of Jewish thought and practice. As our president is fond of saying “We are all just Jews.” Sometimes navigating that range of practice is challenging. We have some members who always stand for Kaddish and some who rarely if ever do. We have some members who love instrumental music on Shabbat and some who feel its not Jewish. We have some members who like to wear a kippah and some who never have had that practice. And with lots of discussion and lots of reminders from me—it is all within normative Judaism. It is like the old joke, “Two Jews, Three Opinions.”

This week I participated in a funeral for the mother of a member. The funeral was held in Skokie at a Jewish funeral home and the service was Orthodox. I spoke both at the service and at the graveside. The rabbi officiating called me rabbi. The rabbi had been the family’s rabbi for many years and knew Sharon long before she got sick so it was most appropriate for this rabbi to take the lead. In actuality there were at least four rabbis present representing a diversity of Jewish expression.

The family elected to do seven days of shiva—the most traditional option. And the minyanim would also be Orthodox. That meant that there would be a mechitza, the dividing line between a men’s section and a women’s section. In order to say Kaddish we would need 10 Jewish men over the age of 13. This took some people out of their comfort zone. Why are we doing it this way instead of the way most of our members are used to? Why is the daughter not saying Kaddish?

Shiva allows a family to grieve. To tell the stories of their loved ones. To have their needs taken care of. To not have to think about what the next meal is. To pray–in a community–and to recite Kaddish for their loved one. To experience the deep pain of mourning. Unfortunately it can also be exhausting and stressful. That’s where community steps in.

Our congregation would be handling the logistics. Now our congregation is really good at at shivas. We know how to bring baked goods and deli platters. We have several people who can lead a shiva minyan. We know how to show up.

And that’s what we did. Each night. Some nights were harder than others. One night the recent Bar Mitzvah boy had to call his friend, another recent Bar Mitzvah boy to make the minyan. And he goes to another congregation entirely! In the process, we comforted the mourners, because that is what it is about—comforting the mourners–even if sometimes some were not comfortable. And in the process, we built even deeper connections in our own community.

We are a small congregation, about 120 families. Counting on people to show up four nights in a row when it is the end of summer, the first few nights of school, lots of people had prior commitments, or are out of town, is tough. But that’s what people do. That’s about community. That’s part of what community is for—to share good times, like a Bar Mitzvah, and hard times, like a funeral and the subsequent shiva.

Our next guest blogger, The Rev. Denise Tracy, is the president of the Coalition of Elgin Religious Leaders, a police chaplain, a mentor for U46 and a retired Unitarian Universalist minister. As I write this, Elgin has just gone through a heavy thunderstorm, a tornado watch and a flash flood warning. The choir at Congregation Kneseth Israel practiced tonight in an interior hallway. But note carefully the date here. Tonight is the 60th anniversary of the flood the story is about…

In August 1955 there were 17 days of rain. As Hurricane Diane moved up the eastern coast on Aug 18, it dumped 13 inches of water on the State of Connecticut. Our family lived on a small river and three times in August we were evacuated for fear of dangerous flooding. On the night of Aug 18th my Dad drove my mother, sister and me to an overnight baby shower in Hartford. He returned to our home to help sandbag and keep watch.

He built a fire, and fell asleep after a busy evening. Up stream the dam at Barkhampstead Reservoir was threatening to burst. A decision was made to release water to relieve pressure. This decision would impact those who lived on our street.

The train trestle that ran across the end of our neighborhood trapped the water, which rose 13 feet in 35 minutes. My sleeping father was awakened by our dog. The water pressure was already too high for him to exit through the doors. He broke the living room window and jumped, with our dog, into the rising flood waters. As he swam, he looked back to see our home lift off its foundation and collapse. In the moonlight there was still smoke was drifting out of the chimney. The dog led him to higher ground.

Eleven people died on our street that night. My Father walked to safety. He joined in the efforts to rescue others. He neglected to tell the Red Cross that he was a victim. His name was on the list of the missing.

We had nothing. My mother, pregnant with her third child had me and my one year old sister. She began her search for my father. She went first to her church. She knocked on the parsonage door. Her clergyman came to the door. My mother explained that she needed some help. He said he was sorry and closed the door. She started to cry.

As we turned to leave, we saw across the green, at my Father’s church, there was much activity. We walked there. We found a soup kitchen, a clothing depot, women were caring for children so their parents could do necessary things, like find housing, figure out what to do since the bank had been washed away. We were enfolded, by people who lived their faith, by being both God’s arms and heart. A caring community of faith in action.

Four days into this ordeal we were reunited with my Father. I can still feel my arms around his boney knees as held my Mother and sister.

When you are poor, you stand in line. You wait your turn as you pray for help. One day we were waiting in a line when a woman came into the social hall of the church. She was holding a roasting pan. She surveyed the line. She smiled and walked towards my mother. “You will need this for Thanksgiving.” She handed my mother the pan and walked away.

That pan came to symbolize hope that our lives would be better. That pan was on our Thanksgiving table every year from that moment forward. When I bought my first house my mother gave me the pan and said. “Use it well.” And I have.

Community can be a congregation uniting to respond to a situation where there is need or one person helping another. I know that my life was changed by both. I also know that I will always be thankful. I do not know the names of those people who helped us in the basement of the church nor do I know the name of the woman who gave us the roasting pan. I just know every Thanksgiving when I make my stuffing in that pan, I say a prayer for the hands and hearts that helped.

The Rev. Denise Tracy

Our first guest blogger this year is Ken Hillman. Ken is a New Yorker where he attended Hebrew School at Bnai Jeshuran. A graduate of Williams College, he has done a lot of thinking about community in terms of theater, friendship, social media, networking. Currently he serves on the Education Committee at Congregation Kneseth Israel where his son became Bar Mitzvah. He also enjoys singing in the choir.

The idea of a synagogue as community is as old as the concept of the synagogue itself. In Jewish communities around the world the place of worship was the one place where all Jews could go for not only the religious aspects but also as a sense of community and gathering. The problem with this model is that it has not translated well into the modern Diaspora, particularly in those areas where the Jewish community is spread out.

It is more than just the over-busy lives of the members of the Jewish community (practices and activities during the week and games on the weekend) and the distance needed to drive to the synagogue but it is more the modern model of the Jewish community that has not kept up.

Modern Jews do not automatically look to their synagogue as an epicenter of community and identify primarily as Jews or even as Jews at all. One could say as an institution, the synagogue has not kept up with modern times as well as others. Perhaps we should look to institutions that have done a better job of modernizing to help us.

One institution that has done a phenomenal job keeping up with the times is the bank. The bank used to be the financial center of a community, you would need to travel to a branch to deposit or withdraw money and with every transaction you would be forced to interact personally with a teller or banker. In today’s society with credit cards, ATM machines and Internet payment it would’ve been easy for the bank to lose its place as the epicenter of the community. Instead, the bank has taught us how to use it without ever going in the building or seeing a teller.

An analogy bridging these two institutions came to me early in my life from one of my Hebrew School teachers. In referring to doing our homework she would remind us constantly that it was like a bank: if you needed to make a withdrawal (skip an assignment occasionally) you needed to make sure that you had made enough deposits (a track record of handing in your assignments on time).

This concept of making enough deposits and keeping up with modernity could be a key to helping the synagogue reestablish itself as a center of community in the modern Diaspora. We may want to start to move away from the traditional metrics of attendance and towards a new metric of involvement. If we can help our congregations understand how they can make deposits both spiritually and in terms of Tikkun Olam, we will be more likely to turn to the synagogue when we need to make a withdrawal. This dynamic of give and take in modern society could help the synagogue learn from the bank in terms of the value of what we can put in as well as the value of what we can expect to take out. In doing so we may reestablish the synagogue as an epicenter of our modern Jewish community.

Ken Hillman

This summer I spent time reading two books: Spiritual Community, the Power to Restore Hope, Commitment and Joy by Rabbi David Teutsch and The Spirituality of Welcoming How to Transform Your Congregation into a Sacred Community by Ron Wolfson.

Both books try to answer the question, what is community. I think we know it when we see it. I think we intuitively know why we want to join a community.

Teutsch says that “when communities are functioning well, they take care of their members.”

What people seem to really want is to be in communion with others. To know that they are loved and that others care. So that when there is a tragedy, or a loss, or an illness, friends show up and they know they are not alone. At any given time in our synagogue about 30% of the congregation are going through one of the top five stressors—a medical issue, a job loss, a death of a spouse, parent or child, a divorce, a move. People need the strength of community to navigate these waters and not feel isolated.

People also want community when they have joys to share—a birth of a child or grandchild, a promotion, a wedding, an anniversary or just the little moments day by day by day. I learned an important lesson one year. My soon-to-be-husband and I had just gotten engaged. We yearned to share our excitement. We went to tell our good friends, Alyn and Nancy. Nancy was busy digging in the yard, putting in fall mums. She didn’t miss a beat or get up from her post when she commanded, “Alyn, go get the champagne.” From that I learned you should always have a bottle in your refrigerator, for the big moments and the little ones. And that it is important to celebrate with community.

Teutsch ways, “Underlying the drive for community are several disparate yet complementary desires. Some people are looking for close friends; others hope to find a permanent companion to love and share life with. Some come to community to overcome loneliness; others come for a shared cultural, social or spiritual life; still others are seeking support. Some come knowing they have much to give.”

But the key—and he says it so well—is that “community transforms everyone, often in unexpected ways. Teachers become students; students turn into teachers. Those poised to give of themselves often find they derive more community membership than they give.”

Today was the Congregation Kneseth Israel Community picnic. It was billed as a Welcome Back Celebration just before school starts. A chance to meet the new education director. To see friends. To have fun. To get outdoors. To eat a hot dog (or two). To showcase the congregation. To come together as a community. To build community. And while two new members joined, it is because we are adopting a model similar to Teutsch–and it is working. We are building community—and so much more.

Tonight we usher in Shabbat. In my congregation it will be a festive evening with much singing, good food, good friends and good conversation. It will also be Rosh Hodesh Elul. In 30 days it will be Rosh Hashanah, the beginning of the new year. In 40 days it will be Yom Kippur. This is an auspicious time. A time of reflection. A time of preparation.

For the past several years, I have given over this blog to members of my wider, virtual community and members of Congregation Kneseth Israel to reflect on a topic. This year’s Elul topic, a way to help us all prepare to think about the themes of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, is community. So I invite you to think deeply about what community means to you.

Last week, I was part of a different community. I led Kabbalat Shabbat services surrounded by unsurpassed beauty, ringed by volcanoes, a couple of lightening bolts and in a circle of new friends—14 rabbis and staff people part of the American Jewish World Service Global Justice Fellowship. The singing and the davenning seemed to be out of this world.

The experience gave me the opportunity to reflect on community. This experience was a little like Brigadoon, the mythical Scottish village that appears for only one day every hundred years. Or because of the beauty, the colors, the flowers, the birds, the fragrance, it seemed a little like landing in Paradise, Pardes, Gan Eden. Could this place, this community be real? Could we make it last?

The answer is yes. But it is complicated. Some of it depends on the intentionality of the community. This community was intentional from day one of being chosen as a Global Justice Fellow..

My Shabbat experience was amazing. From the beauty of Kabbalat Shabbat outside, to the ruach (spirit) of singing and Birkat Hamazon at dinner, to the ability to sleep late on Shabbat morning, to the guided walking meditation, to the davenning and Torah study, to a leisurely Shabbat lunch, a hike, a swim, falling asleep reading a book to Havdalah. It was a full day, a day of “vayinafash” and G-d rested which is the spirit in which Shabbat was intended.

Each of these experiences enriched my soul. Since we created these experience with each one of us taking a part, what we created along the way was community. It worked because after nearly a week bouncing on a bus and learning to rely on each other for translation, for snacks, for water, for hugs and smiles and encouragement, we had learned to trust each other.

So thank you to my colleagues now friends of the Global Justice Fellowship. Together we created community. Thank you! Todah. Gracias.

• To Jill and Marc who coordinated the whole 25 hours with such skill and grace and compassion
• To Nancy, who led the guided walking meditation which allowed me to go deeper and to think about blessing myself, not just others with peace, justice and compassion.
• To Laurence who led a traditional Ma’ariv, just like we might experience at home.
• To Stacy who led an Ilu Finu which was so beautiful, especially at the shore of Lake Atilan. It is really hard to imagine how we could ever praise G-d as much as the waves, as the song suggests.
• To David who taught about our circumcised hearts, and to Ruth to added to the d’var Torah and gave us text to use next week in a context of AJWS and Guatemala
• To Pam who lead chanting, allowing our minds to rest and our neshomas (soul) to fly
• To Faith Joy who led the singing and did the Torah leining with such joy and spirit
• To Eliot who made sure there was a mikveh experience and led the misheberach allowing each of us to pray for healing for ourselves or members of our families or communities.
• To Adina and Lilach, who led havdalah and called attention to how each of us used each of our senses during the 25 hours, creating memories along the way. I will remember the sound of the thunder and the canyons, the fragrance of the flowers and the woods, the range of the colors and the sight of the candles, the taste of my tostadas and the flan, the feel of being relaxed enough to just fall asleep in a beach chair.
• To Marla who decided that she didn’t want to lead, that she really wanted to rest and just experience, but all along the way encouraged those of us leading. It was an important role model for all of us.

Together, we created community and Shabbat.

For the next 40 days I invite you to reflect. What is community to you? How does it happen? Where? What makes it meaningful? What do you want from a community.

I went to Guatemala not quite knowing what to expect. Delighted to have been chosen as a Rabbinic Global Justice Fellow, by American Jewish World Service, I was one of 11 rabbis to complete a two year program. But this was a commencement and not a graduation, a celebration of our accomplishments and not a finale.

Why go all the way to Guatemala to learn about the needs for tikkun olam, repairing the world? Aren’t there enough things to do in Elgin? Certainly. But having a global perspective is like the quote from Hillel. “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, what am I? If not now, when?”

It turns out this August was a very good time to go to Guatemala. The elections in Guatemala are happening September 6^th and there was much discussion of the elections in every meeting we had. In every encounter on the street. Even sitting on the plane on the way back to Miami. So if not now, when?

It turns out that Guatemala with its Mayan roots, is deeply spiritual. This trip was highly spiritual—from the texts we studied in chevruta and the very Jewish connections we made with the NGOs (Non Governmental Organizations) we were visiting. Whether it was the story of Shifrah and Puah we told to Codecut, an association that trains midwives, or Rebecca assenting to her marriage to Isaac which we told to an NGO that works of women’s right to education, or Abraham’s purchase of the land and the subsequent struggle for it, which I told to CCDA, a coffee collective, this trip had a very Jewish feel. Perhaps David, a Conservative Rabbi in Boca Raton said it best, “This is the way we live out our Jewishness.” And it is important to remember we were not looking AT the people of Guatemala, we were looking with the people of Guatemala. So I return with Spanish language sex ed materials for the Community Crisis Center, thoughts about farming corn since as I always joke, we live in the middle of a corn field, and curiosity about that plant on Route 20 in Hanover Park. Does anyone know what is going on in that plant that processes bananas including those from Guatemala? So there are lots of local connections.

It turns out that Shabbat in Guatemala at Lake Atilan is gorgeous. Kabbalat Shabbat outside with a backdrop of volcanoes with a little bit of lightening over the mountains. A vegetarian Shabbat dinner and lots of singing, a guided walking meditation in a rose garden, enough time to really enjoy davenning, great Torah discussion, shared leadership so we all participated but no one was burdened, leisurely lunch and a late afternoon hike over narrow swinging bridges and a swim in an infinity pool. The flowers. The colors. The birds. The butterflies. The lake. It was perfect. But one of those roses, William Shakespear by name, was planted in 1983 at the height of the violence. How was that possible? What were the innkeepers doing (or not)? What are they doing now? Is this a sanctuary, a refuge or just another example of privilege? I never could decide, but I am grateful for my Shabbat of rest and healing. Ours is not to finish the task, so says Pirke Avot, neither are we free to ignore it.

So if I am only for myself, what am I and if not now when?

It turns out that the fellowship was designed to teach Jewish leaders, rabbis, to be better leaders. It is professional development. And through the course of the week, as we learned frameworks for education, we got more adept as leaders. We learned how to present our story of self to be engaging and to connect with the story of us and the story of now. We learned about upstream/downstream, while on a boat. We learned not to make assumptions with our observations and instead to ask more questions. We learned about moral courage. All of these models were good for the work I do right here in Elgin, building the community at the synagogue and coalitions in the wider world.

Guatemala is a beautiful country. It is a land flowing with coffee and honey, corn and bananas. It is a land that has been fought over for generations. It is a land where it is hard to reconcile the beauty with the brokenness. It is a microcosm of the world and our task as Jews is to walk with the people of Guatemala, to help them achieve what they want for themselves…a reduction of violence, education, health care, nutrition, basic human rights.

9 days and a lifetime. There are many more stories to tell. I thought that once I went to Guatemala my fellowship would be over. In fact, it has just begun.

If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, what am I? If not now, when?

Yalla. Vamos. An early morning call to the bus and we are on our way. We even did sacred space on the bus. A lovely niggun featuring V’ahavta that Faith Joy wrote in memory of her sister and the powerful words of Abraham Joshua Heschel which David selected from Heschel’s speech Religion and Race. Words popped out relevant to our work here in Guatemala and also as the anniversary of Ferguson as it approaches. So our day began living out the V’ahavta as we discussed these very words on our way. Then Faith Joy continued our tradition of reading the daily journal.

The bus began to climb as we were leaving Guatemala City. Some of us spotted a large Israeli flag next to the Guatemalan flag. Meghan thought perhaps it was a joint development project. I thought it might be a sports complex.

The long bus ride gave us the opportunity to study about human rights development in chevruta. As was pointed out, the work we and AJWS are doing is incredibly complex. The more tools they can give us the better ambassadors we can be.

We stopped about an hour up the mountain for bathrooms. But the magical part was chocolate and pie. Margaret and Elliot tried theirs with rum which Leilach and Ruth both enjoyed sips. And we know who are shoppers are! 10 minutes and several came back with more treasures. The history of the place we stopped was fascinating. This was a highly contested parcel of land during the war and many time trees were cut down to block the road. As Rambo tells it the original owner was assassinated in front of the restaurant during the war by the guerrillas for his neutrality. His  widow re-openned it. It is now a social project of the community and that shop in front is run by the women of the community and they don’t pay rent.

The long bus ride gave Rambo a chance to tell his story of self. He was born in Antigua but registered in Guatemala City which also says a lot about the complexity of this country. At two his parents moved to Hong Kong. His father was a career military man and then a diplomat. His parents divorced. His mother remarried a Chinese man she met in the grocery line in Guatemala City. Rambo’s step father was a chef and they moved to Canada where he worked in a hotel eventually buying it. Rambo always worked at that hotel. At fourteen he told his mother he was going to be a soldier. His mother said “hell no”. So he stole $500 and hitchhiked back to Guatemala arriving at his father’s just before Christmas. His father also said “hell no you can’t become a soldier.” So with the help of his cousins he got into the military academy and did not speak to his father until the day of graduation. His father was not happy and even though Rambo was not obligated he entered the army and “was a man”. He felt he was fighting against communism and socialism. At least that is what he was told. Times were hard. 1983 in Quiche was really bloody. Rambo told us that Rigoberta Menchu wants to put the whole military on trial.  His personal opinion is that if the military is going to be put on trial both sides need to be tried. Both sides participated in the killing and the disappearances. Recently he was giving a tour and someone kept pointing at him. He worried he had done something to offend, so he approached. Do I know you? No, but I know you. On March 15 1984 you were ambushed and lost seventeen men. I shot you. Now bring me some gringos to buy something. Rambo confirms that he was shot. That he spent 27 days in a coma. But what he learned from the man who shot him who he now describes as his friend is that may be it is time to forgive and forget or at least move on.  Today he is not sure which side he would take. He knows his country needs tremendous help but he doesn’t like the approach of many groups. “I don’t want to be rescued. I want to work for it all. We need sustainable projects.”

A fascinating discussion ensued about Guatemalans taking care of their own supporting these grassroot initiatives we have been visiting. It doesn’t seem to happen much. The recent wave of immigration to the US seems to be driven by fear of drugs and gangs. Perhaps the US’s best strategy would be to invest more in education so people want to stay.

We drove by several buses for one presidential candidate prompting a frank discussion of the upcoming election. “I know there is corruption. I don’t like any of them. It is not fair that some need to serve in the army and others only need to serve in the reserves on Sunday. Military service should be compulsory for all.  Both leading parties have ties to drug cartels. Because there are only 4 year terms candidates promise the world and then cant deliver. One candidate promised an extra pay. Instead of 14 per year, he was promising 15.

He explained his connection to Israel. Trained by their special forces and military intelligence.  And he runs tours for Israelis. He likes their desire to always see more and their desire to see nature. And so sometimes the bus conversation is peppered with Hebrew.

As we drove into the town Quetzeltenango, we drove past the memorial for those who had left Guatemala for the US and send money back to their families. They are regarded as the heroes.

We drove up a very narrow road. Kudos to Gatto our skilled bus driver for navigating that! We had a delightful lunch of asparagus soup and fish. But not before having ten minutes to shop. The same shoppers came back with more treasures. And even more treasurers from the woman in the lobby hawking her hand made goods. But we wonder how we are perceived. Just as Americans with shekels to spend? Is this another example of white privilege? Do these shopkeepers and hawkers ever get to leave their communities? To travel to someplace else as we are doing? Do they have access to health care? To education? Do they want it? As we walked back to the restaurant i heard the strands of Simon and Garfunkel’s Sound of Silence. And i wondered. Are we committing the sin of silence?

However the real highlight of the day came when we went to Codecut, an association of midwives that provide training, services and advocacy. Part of what American Jewish World Service is doing is helping them to do capacity planning. It is clear that AJWS is proud of this organizations accomplishments and we received a warm welcome. Audacious hospitality. Nancy did the introduction and reminded us of Shifrah and Puah, the two midwives in the book of Exodus who enabled Moses to be born and for the Jewish people to survive. While the story was not familiar to these Mayan women I watched as Maria Cecelia beamed. Her face just lit up with joy and appreciation at the parallels. We had a ceremony to open the program lighting colorful candles symbolizing sun, rest, the energy of water, purity, transparency, air, sky and the natural world. We watched a video abbot Narcissa Garcia who delivered her first baby at 16. Sitting in the large circle each of us had an opportunity to ask questions.

We learned the importance of their advocacy work gaining access to hospitals. And as Ruth pointed out it seems to have become second nature to them. Because of the grants from American Jewish World Service the advocacy is paying off and they are even discuss the stories of just two years ago in very different terms.

But the most meaningful part was the small groups. In mine, we asked about when they have to take mothers to the hospital. For a recent c-section, breach, pre-clempsia, severe malnutrition of the mother or if after 6-8 hours nothing is happening. One of the midwives told the story about a birth where the baby would drop down and raise back up. It turned out it was a shortened umbilical chord. That one had to go to the hospital. They do do family planning, especially after the third or fourth birth. And most fathers attend the birth. They suggest it. The fathers should to show their commitment and to share in the pain.

We asked about the training. Most of them have mothers or grandmothers who were midwives. They hope their daughters will be delivered by midwives and that they themselves become midwives. But here was the shocker. In this two year training program they have had four men. One even told us that her grandfather was a midwife. We were also surprised to learn that the fall off in midwifery  came not recently but all the way back with the Spanish conquest. In the middle of this discussion tamales and a corn drink appeared. More audacious hospitality.

Stacey and Ruth got to hold a baby. Hamilton. He became the symbol for the trip. There were lots of pictures taken. There were lots of statistics and figures but perhaps the most important things were the stories and the feelings. This is important life saving life sustaining work. As a measure of that someone had asked how they get paid. They don’t think about payment in the middle of attending a birth. The most important. The health of the mother and the health of the baby and the two new eyes that appear.

They asked us about becoming a rabbi. We explained the training. Maria Cecilia said that one day she might like to become one. She exchanged emails with Eliot who will be back in Guatemala City as the high holiday rabbi at the Progressive Synagogue here. She was very curious. I was curious about the woman named Santos Margarita. She assured me she was no saint. But her family has always been spiritual leaders and healers. Soon it was time to go. Jill presented the ajws plaque and we broke into a spontaneity singing shalom chaverim because this was not good-bye since we would be seeing them tomorrow. Then back on the bus.

Dinner included an open discussion with Ruth. She began with her own story of self which she framed in terms of listening. Two stories. One about Zimbabwe where she visited a school and asked what they needed desks, chairs, books, whiteboard. And he replied, i cant teach if they don’t have breakfast. The other about her political life. She only changed her vote once. On needle exchange. She went out to one of the original exchanges under the elevated tracks at midnight in the Bronx. The people explained that while they couldn’t seem to kick their addictions, they didn’t want to infect anyone with AIDS either. Ruth heard the stories and publicly changed her vote.

Listening. We are back to the sh’ma. And these very words. When we lie down and when we rise up. Lila tov amigos. buenos nochis. It is another early morning bus call when we can discuss these words again. There is so much more to learn. So much more circling. So many more questions to ask. And there will be more stories to hear

Yesterday was a long post but that is because this experience is so rich. And I use that term deliberately. This entire fellowship has taught me much about rich and poor. And not making assumptions. Towards the end of the day riding the bus back to the hotel Leilach gave us r framework for cross cultural work. OAQ. Observations lead to assumptions instead of questions. And that is sometimes how myths and stereotypes perpetuative themselves.

If you are following this blog or Facebook you had a spoiler alert. Today was my dayo to lead our sacred space time. Each day we begin with 15 minutes of a spiritual exercis Today was my day and you saw the materials I used. I added the Psalm for the day as well.

I chose this material for several reasons. The poem was given to me by the Rev. David Ferner for ordination in a book called The Active Life by Parker Palmer a Quaker activist. It was originally published by the Church of Brethern in Elgin. I went last Friday to pick up the book in person. It just seemed like all the pieces of my life are contained just in how the poem got to me. It also seems like Judaism says much about the collective. The community. Most of our prayers are in the plural. Eloheinu. Our G-d. Avinu Malkenu. Our Father Our King. Rarely do we pray in the singular. So I started with Ozi V’zimrat Yah. G-d is my strength and song. G-d is my salvation. These are very powerful words. (And also the song that got me through a bike ride raising money for a domestic violence program after Liv was killed when she stepped in front of her mother who was shot by her father. This on the day I presented my thesis on domestic violence. But that was not the point. Her mom played volleyball with the clergy in Chelmsford. Not one of us saw the warning signs.)

Judaism has a lot to say about resurrection and we don’t always focus on it. Sometimes I think it is not rational enough for us moderns. Sometimes I think it is something we ceded to the Christians. But here comes a poem that talks about resurrection in a way I had never thought of. It is not the personal salvation of Ozi V’zimrat Yah. Rather it is the collective. Resurrection is something we achieve together. In community. And that is a very powerful way of looking at these texts.

So here is the material for real:

Ozi   V’Zimrat Yah. Vayhi Li’yeshua

G’vurot:

YOU ARE FOREVER MIGHTY, Adonai; You give life to all (revive the dead).
*Winter—You cause the wind to shift and rain to fall.
*Summer —You rain dew upon us.
You sustain life through love, giving life to all (reviving the dead) through great
compassion, supporting the fallen, healing the sick, freeing the captive, keeping faith
with those who sleep in the dust.
Who is like You, Source of mighty acts? Who
resembles You, a Sovereign who takes and gives life, causing deliverance to spring up
and faithfully giving life to all (reviving that which is dead)?
Shabbat shuvah — Who is like You, Compassionate God,
who mercifully remembers Your creatures for life?

Blessed are You, Adonai, who gives life to all (revives the dead).

translation from : http://www.reformjudaism.org/practice/prayers-blessings/shabbat-morning-worship-services-gvurot#sthash.zib0JHVi.dpuf

Ezekiel 37:5:

Thus says the Lord G-d to these bones: Behold I will breathe into you, and you will come to life.

Translation of the End of Yigdal

By the End of Days G-d will send our Messiah – to redeem those longing for G-d’s final salvation;

God will revive the dead in abundant kindness – Blessed forever is the praised Name.

Threatened by Resurrection:
They have threatened us with Resurrection
There is something here within us
which doesn’t let us sleep, which doesn’t let us rest,
which doesn’t stop the pounding deep inside.

It is the silent, warm weeping of women without their husbands
it is the sad gaze of children fixed there beyond memory . . .

What keeps us from sleeping
is that they have threatened us with resurrection!

Because at each nightfall
though exhausted from the endless inventory
of killings for years,
we continue to love life,
and do not accept their death!

In this marathon of hope
there are always others to relieve us
in bearing the courage necessary . . .

Accompany us then on this vigil
and you will know what it is to dream!

You will know then how marvelous it is
to live threatened with resurrection!
To live while dying
and to already know oneself resurrected.

Julia Esquivel

Parker Palmer said in the Active Life:

For Esquivel, there is no resurrection of isolated individuals. She is simply not concerned about private resurrections, yours or mine or her own. Each of us is resurrected only as we enter into the network of relationships called community, a network that embraces not only living persons but people who have died, and nonhuman creatures as well. Resurrection has personal significance – if we understand the person as a communal being – but it is above all a corporate, social and political event, an event in which justice and truth and love come to fruition. (152)

A word about technology. I traveled with my old beat up laptop. Seems there were real reasons I bought a new one three years ago. This one is missing the comma key. It needs to always be plugged in because the battery pack is not charging and when I went to print ahead of my session I could not download the file. So we will limp along. I might say that these are first world problems but I had a long conversation yesterday about terms such as first world third world developing world and global south. Does anyone remember what the second world was? I had forgotten. It was China and Russia. Reminds me of all those reports I wrote for SAP on BRIC. Brazil Russia India China.

Today began by creating community in another way. I met a friend to go running. This is someone who I know primarily through Facebook and running races at Disney. She lives in Guatemala City and is a teacher. It turns out she lives just two kilometers from the hotel.

The staff was not sure this was a great idea. But I am determined. OK some would even call me stubborn. So after getting clearance from one staff member we went.

There is a beautiful bike/walking/running trail just meters from the hotel. It runs down a central boulevard that passes some pretty ritzy real estate. Including the American Embassy. Many people were out using this path and except for the traffic and the fast pace set by my friend I did not find it scary at all.

We did see a fair amount of police presence but she said that was typical for rush hour. We talked about our running. Our families. The upcoming election both here in Guatemala and in the US. The Guatemalan election is September 6 and most people we have spoken with are not happy. There is a fair amount of corruption currently and the alternatives do not seem good either. Some even wonder if they will even vote.

After breakfast at the hotel it was time for sacred space. Pam led us in a lovely Modeh/Modeh Ani in the spirit of gratitude. I would like to bring back to my congregation. Lawrence led us in the Sh’ma begging us still to listen. It was a chant of the Kirtan Rabbi and I liked its gentle nature and its ability to slow us down. Slow me down. Then Pam talked about legacy as part of the Avot.

There are so many people who gave me the legacy of social justice. Certainly my mother and father. But also Al. Simon. Everett. Neil. David. Larry. Jack. Gordon. Linda. Peg. Katy. And the newer ones. Keith. Don. Denise. Maralee.

Then we talked about the ethical engagements in communities. How do we perceive culture.? Our staff person Leilach likes the work of Dr. Gary Weaver at the American University who talks about culture as an iceberg. 20% is visible. 80% is bidden beneath the surface. Those things include values and beliefs and thoughts and feelings. We talked about time—whether we are more on task or relationship. Whether we focus more on To Do (the most used verb in English) or To Be. Whether we are transactional or relational. And we looked at some quotes from Rigoberta Menchu Lord Sacks Eli Wiesel and one about Slumdog Tourism.

Then we studied in chevruta looking at a text from Pesikta d Rav Kahana 9:1 about being a tourist almost 2000 years ago in Rome and wondering at the poverty.

“When Rabbi Yehosua ben Levi went to Rome he saw marble pillars there which ahd been carefully covered with wrapping to keep them from cracking during the heat and freezing in the cold. At the same time he saw a poor man who had no more than a reed mat under him and a reed mat over him (to protect him from the elements).

My partner and I spoke of the wide discrepancy in wealth here and at home. At the mall here (I didn’t go) there are Mazeratis for sale. Yet the NGO we visited yesterday has a annual budget of just $45K. This part of Guatemala City looks pretty wealthy. Sections of town we drove through had crumbling buildings shuttered windows businesses obviously closed. I am sure we will see greater evidence of greater poverty out in the villages later in the week.

After studying the text we came back together to look at “Principles for Ethical Community Engagement (CHIME). If anyone wants the full text on this I will be happy to send it along.

Then we got on the bus with our tour guide Rambo and our Guatemalan expert Meghan and we went across town.

We met with two grantees today. The first Incidejoven is part of a youth movement that has worked to require sex education in every school. And they have won! Which is more than we in the United States can say when funding for Planned Parenthood is still threatened and more and more families exercise their opt-out options.

One of the challenges that Incidejoven has is that it is a youth movement. So once people reach 30 what happens? Currently that has meant that there is some leadership turnover and some lack of historical memory. AJWS is helping them with strategic planning and taking them to the next level. They are in beautiful new office space—for only a week! It is an old “colonial” house that has been converted to office space. It is light and airy with many levels. Perhaps what intrigued me the most is we had lunch outdoors—essentially in the garage. Now it makes so much sense how some of the households entertain in their garages all summer long! It is a great use of space.

We had the opportunity to meet in small groups with some of the leaders. My small group consisted of a rabbi from Milwaukee and a rabbi from San Francisco. We also had Christian and Paula. They were as curious about us and we were of them. Christian is the only male staff person and he is charge of doing training. It sounds like they are using a train the trainer model so that they can expand the capacity. Paula is studying law. They were both very articulate and passionate. And they are courageous. Christian in particular alluded to the fact that he is a survivor of sexual abuse. That takes great courage to admit in a group. I made sure with the help of one of our interpreters to thank him for his courage and to explain that he is not alone. We wished that we had more time because I for one would have liked to learn what Christian called revolutionary new methodologies for doing this kind of sex ed in the schools. I thought perhaps it would help the Community Crisis Center.

After lunch they led us in a game. They called it a game. Really it was an exercise of holding hands breathing in breathing out raising our arms and then screaming to recognize our power. The facilitator used a quote: “A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality.” No one in our group seemed to recognize it but we all thought of the Herzl quote. “If you will it; it is no dream. It turns out after a careful search on google it is a John Lennon quote!

But this exercise goes to the believing in the possible which we talked about the first night.

After that we met the second group: La Enredadera de Mujeres. This is a new AJWS grantee. AJWS found them because some of the members are friends with the first group. Again we played a mixer: this time fruit salad. Mango. Banana. Pina. Switch. It really does break the ice and have every one giggling.

But the work they do is very serious. And the presenters rarely smiled as they presented the horrific statistics on child and teen pregnancy. Then they talked about their work on reducing sexual harassment in high schools and university. They talked about a campaign where the engineering school distorted their words and the frightening moment when they were locked in by the police until the dean could be called. Nonetheless they feel strongly that they are making a difference.

We got back on the bus feeling like we had new friends and partners.

A short break at the hotel which I used to prepare tomorrow’s sacred space. Then dinner at Azahar a Mediterranean restaurant where we again enjoyed wonderful vegetarian food. A paella. Mashed potatos and zuchinni spaghetti. But more important than the food where the three prompts to discuss with our table partners. Harkening back to the morning’s sacred space

One thing you are grateful for: I was grateful for the run and the ability to see a different Guatemala and I was grateful for my new friend Mark a rabbi who like Rabbi Everett Gendler is one who always moves tables and chairs. I was grateful for my chevruta study with him as well. One thing I want to take back with me is that sense of the possible. If you will it is no dream. A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality. That sense of partnership.

And as for legacy I tied it to Mark moving tables and shares. There are so so many but today I was thinking mostly of Everett and David Ferner.

Ozi v’zimrat Yah. Vayhi Li’yeshua

G’vurot:

YOU ARE FOREVER MIGHTY, Adonai; You give life to all (revive the dead).
*Winter—You cause the wind to shift and rain to fall.
*Summer —You rain dew upon us.
You sustain life through love, giving life to all (reviving the dead) through great
compassion, supporting the fallen, healing the sick, freeing the captive, keeping faith
with those who sleep in the dust.
Who is like You, Source of mighty acts? Who
resembles You, a Sovereign who takes and gives life, causing deliverance to spring up
and faithfully giving life to all (reviving that which is dead)?
Shabbat shuvah — Who is like You, Compassionate God,
who mercifully remembers Your creatures for life?

Blessed are You, Adonai, who gives life to all (revives the dead).

translation from : http://www.reformjudaism.org/practice/prayers-blessings/shabbat-morning-worship-services-gvurot#sthash.zib0JHVi.dpuf

Ezekiel 37:5:

Thus says the Lord G-d to these bones: Behold I will breathe into you, and you will come to life.

Translation of the End of Yigdal
By the End of Days G-d will send our Messiah – to redeem those longing for G-d’s final salvation;

God will revive the dead in abundant kindness – Blessed forever is the praised Name.

Threatened by Resurrection:
They have threatened us with Resurrection

There is something here within us

which doesn’t let us sleep, which doesn’t let us rest,

which doesn’t stop the pounding deep inside.

It is the silent, warm weeping of women without their husbands

it is the sad gaze of children fixed there beyond memory . . .

What keeps us from sleeping

is that they have threatened us with resurrection!

Because at each nightfall

though exhausted from the endless inventory

of killings for years,

we continue to love life,

and do not accept their death!

In this marathon of hope

there are always others to relieve us

in bearing the courage necessary . . .

Accompany us then on this vigil

and you will know what it is to dream!

You will know then how marvelous it is

to live threatened with resurrection!

To live while dying

and to already know oneself resurrected.

Julia Esquivel

Parker Palmer said in the Active Life:
For Esquivel, there is no resurrection of isolated individuals. She is simply not concerned about private resurrections, yours or mine or her own. Each of us is resurrected only as we enter into the network of relationships called community, a network that embraces not only living persons but people who have died, and nonhuman creatures as well. Resurrection has personal significance – if we understand the person as a communal being – but it is above all a corporate, social and political event, an event in which justice and truth and love come to fruition. (152)

Ozi v’zimrat Yah. Vayhi Li’yeshua

G’vurot:

YOU ARE FOREVER MIGHTY, Adonai; You give life to all (revive the dead).
*Winter—You cause the wind to shift and rain to fall.
*Summer —You rain dew upon us.
You sustain life through love, giving life to all (reviving the dead) through great
compassion, supporting the fallen, healing the sick, freeing the captive, keeping faith
with those who sleep in the dust.
Who is like You, Source of mighty acts? Who
resembles You, a Sovereign who takes and gives life, causing deliverance to spring up
and faithfully giving life to all (reviving that which is dead)?
Shabbat shuvah — Who is like You, Compassionate God,
who mercifully remembers Your creatures for life?

Blessed are You, Adonai, who gives life to all (revives the dead).

translation from : http://www.reformjudaism.org/practice/prayers-blessings/shabbat-morning-worship-services-gvurot#sthash.zib0JHVi.dpuf

Ezekiel 37:5:

Thus says the Lord G-d to these bones: Behold I will breathe into you, and you will come to life.

Translation of the End of Yigdal
By the End of Days G-d will send our Messiah – to redeem those longing for G-d’s final salvation;

God will revive the dead in abundant kindness – Blessed forever is the praised Name.

Threatened by Resurrection:
They have threatened us with Resurrection

There is something here within us

which doesn’t let us sleep, which doesn’t let us rest,

which doesn’t stop the pounding deep inside.

It is the silent, warm weeping of women without their husbands

it is the sad gaze of children fixed there beyond memory . . .

What keeps us from sleeping

is that they have threatened us with resurrection!

Because at each nightfall

though exhausted from the endless inventory

of killings for years,

we continue to love life,

and do not accept their death!

In this marathon of hope

there are always others to relieve us

in bearing the courage necessary . . .

Accompany us then on this vigil

and you will know what it is to dream!

You will know then how marvelous it is

to live threatened with resurrection!

To live while dying

and to already know oneself resurrected.

Julia Esquivel

Parker Palmer said in the Active Life:
For Esquivel, there is no resurrection of isolated individuals. She is simply not concerned about private resurrections, yours or mine or her own. Each of us is resurrected only as we enter into the network of relationships called community, a network that embraces not only living persons but people who have died, and nonhuman creatures as well. Resurrection has personal significance – if we understand the person as a communal being – but it is above all a corporate, social and political event, an event in which justice and truth and love come to fruition. (152)