Alden Solovy is the author of Enter These Gates: Meditations for the Days of Awe, now available from CCAR Press. As Rosh HaShanah approaches, we share one of Alden’s poems from the book for the new year.
Meditation on the Eve of a New Year God, We stand at the cusp of a new year, Looking forward, looking backward, So much accomplished, So much neglected, Gains and losses, Joys and sorrows, Victories and defeats. A life. My life.
You, God of Old, You are Steadfast Witness, Source and Shelter. I bend my heart to You, Recalling all of Your gifts.
God, For consolation in my grief, For sunlight and midnight, For hope in my celebrations, For warmth and for shelter, For current and tide, For family and for friends, For the flow of beauty and grace, I bend my life back to You, As the New Year descends, In love and in service, My offering To Your holy name.
October 7 has indelibly left its mark in our hearts and memories. We remember where we were, what we were doing, and the sinking sense of horror and loss on what should have been a day of celebration and joy in our Torah. Too many Israeli lives were lost; too many hostages were taken; too many families were displaced. The aftermath has unleashed one horror after another: rising waves of antisemitism in the Diaspora, widespread evacuations in Israel’s north, hundreds of Israeli soldiers fallen in battle, and tens of thousands of innocent Gazans killed because of Hamas’s actions and Israel’s response.
There are times to address each of these horrors—to demand hostages be returned home, to reckon with antisemitism at home and abroad, to soothe the divisions within the Jewish community. There will be a time for healing and rebuilding—God willing, speedily. But today, on the anniversary of the worst violence against Jews since the Holocaust, our task is to bear witness, to remember, and to mourn.
These readings may be shared as part of services and ceremonies with attribution of the authors and the CCAR. We hope these readings, prayers, and poems will provide support, meaning, and connection as you commemorate the anniversary of October 7, 2023.
The Reform Israel Rabbinic Cabinet has created a monthly forum where two rabbis will share with Reform rabbis their thoughts on teaching and preaching about Israel in the month ahead. For Rosh Chodesh Elul, Rabbi Melissa Simon has shared her thoughts, and Rabbi Dan Moskovitz has shared a Davar Acheir, a second perspective.
Writing About Israel in Advance, by Rabbi Melissa Simon
When I was asked to write this piece, my first question was “How late can I submit it?” This was not just because I have a tendency to procrastinate, but rather because every passing hour seems to see shifts and changes in the reality on the ground in the Middle East. So how can someone write about Israel in advance? Writing about Israel in advance requires flexibility, an awareness of the possibility of a last-minute edit or rewrite, and creativity. It means identifying goals or themes and then ideating around them. Sometimes these initiatives can lead to meaningful adaptations and ideas.
Over the first seven months of 2024, I organized and led three trips of Hillel campus staff from the United States, Canada, and Poland to Israel to better understand the post-October 7 reality. We painstakingly crafted a journal full of poetry, songs, prayers, and art. But then we faced a challenge: we desperately wanted to believe that our hostages wouldn’t still be held captive by the time the trip took place, yet it was a possibility (and sadly a reality throughout each trip). What did we do? We found an image that resembled a torn piece of tape, like the one Rachel Goldberg—the mother of hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin—has been wearing attached to her clothing, what she calls “an emblem of pain,” marking the days of captivity of her beloved son, who was tragically murdered by Hamas. In solidarity, many of us around the world have been wearing the torn tape with the unbelievably increasing total number of days. We printed the blank tape image at the top of each day’s journal page and invited the participants to fill out the number of days each morning. It became a painful yet powerful ritual each day, as we marked the difficult passage of time. It centered the people of Israel and their reality at the forefront of our minds and hearts.
The take-away I have from this experience is that however difficult it is, we must talk about Israel, we must write about Israel, we must engage in the work of Israel education—even when it is hard, even if our old systems and plans have failed us, even if we fear we will make a mistake.
We need to center Israeli voices in our work, and we need to travel to Israel to experience the changed realities. We need to read books and articles, listen to podcasts, and watch TV and movies in order to add to our knowledge. We need to be creative with how we engage with Israel, and we need to be expansive in how we understand the people, land, and State of Israel.
The greatest danger is the silence. The fear of getting it wrong causes some people to freeze and to fail to act. Our Jewish communities need prophetic and strong voices. They need sermons that make sense of what is hard to understand. They need classes that explain history and how present realities have come to be.
Yes, sometimes you might need to edit that sermon right before services because something has shifted in world events. Yes, sometimes you might need to throw out the lesson plan to hold space to deal with a challenging reality. Yes, sometimes we can confess that we too are confused or scared or challenged.
But even when it is hard—perhaps precisely because it is hard—we need to write, speak, and teach about Israel today and every day.
Davar Acheir / Another Perspective: Always in the Wilderness, by Rabbi Dan Moskovitz
Thank you, Rabbi Simon, for your thought-provoking and honest reflections on the challenges of writing about Israel amidst the daily uncertainty and dynamism of a post-October 7 world.
I too have been putting off my High Holy Day sermon topic selection let alone outlining and drafting, which by Elul is usually at least in my head if not on paper. Shabbat sermons and divrei Torah have been similarly “eleventh hour” as events impact perspective on a daily basis.
And yet some things about Israel and the experience of Jews in the diaspora never change, even as they appear new to us as twenty-first-century Jews. For over seventy-five years, the miraculous existence of the State of Israel, to say nothing of Jews in the West in general; the nature, character, and acceptance among the community of nations of both the Jewish State and the Jewish People has been fragile and under attack from enemies “foreign and domestic.” The fantasy we tell ourselves is that the forces unleashed on October 7 are new and different, rather than revealing something that has been there all along, and that our people have faced for millennia.
Franklin Foer’s piece in the Atlantic, “The Golden Age of American Jews Is Ending,” makes the point that what we are experiencing now is not the exception but rather normative of attitudes toward Jews and becoming normative toward Israel. I draw some degree of strength from that sad reality. We have been here before and are still here.
I think of the tens of thousands of sermons and articles written by our rabbinic predecessors in their own precarious times; the strength (koach) and wisdom they gave their communities in dire moments such as these that guided our people through the wilderness. Maybe that is the burden and the blessing of being a Jew or a Jewish State—we are always in the wilderness striving toward a promised land, a promised time, but we never quite get there. In the striving, in the wilderness journey, our true character is formed and the dangers to our survival are revealed so we can confront them.
The Reform Israel Rabbinic Cabinet asks that if you choose to respond to these authors, you do so only with kavod harav—respect for the rabbi sharing their wisdom, experience, time, and talent.
Rabbi Melissa B. Simon is the director of Israel education for Hillel International and lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Rabbi Dan Moskovitz is the senior rabbi of Temple Sholom in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Alden Solovy is the author of Enter These Gates: Meditations for the Days of Awe, now available from CCAR Press. In this excerpt from the introduction, he reflects on the meaning of the High Holy Days and how his book can deepen our experiences of this season.
What a strange thing we do each year at the High Holy Days: We put our own humanity on trial. We take an accounting of our souls precisely at the moment we celebrate the creation of the world and lift up the sovereignty of God. We take accounting of our own souls because the world needs us each at our best, because part of perfecting God’s world is healing ourselves. Even though we know that the world will offer us moments of challenge—like September 11 and October 7—we choose to look deeply at our lives again and again, year after year.
The High Holy Days can lift us on words of Torah and prayer to the heights of our best selves. The days also call forth the deepest moments of our vulnerability and pain. Our memories—joyous and painful—meet our hopes for the future. These are the days of our most intimate self- assessment. By design, our liturgy brings out our sorrows, our fears, and our vulnerabilities. Yet the intent—far from punishment or retribution—is to lift us toward our best selves. Repentance. Prayer. Charity. Confession. Forgiveness. We ask a lot of ourselves and our liturgy. Our liturgy and our tradition ask a lot from us.
These challenges led to the genesis of my new book, Enter These Gates: Meditations for the Days of Awe. The volume has two purposes. The first is to serve as a source of new meditations for private use, a path to deepening our individual experiences of the Days of Awe. The second is as a new liturgical supplement to Mishkan HaNefesh: Machzor for the Days of Awe, which has been in use for more than a decade. Central to this book is the goal of helping clergy and congregations bring refreshed vigor and new voices into High Holy Day worship. Enter These Gates can also be used in conjunction with Mishkan HaLev: Prayers for S’lichot and the Month of Elul.
This volume offers more than one hundred new readings based on the core thematic elements of the High Holy Day liturgy. Some of the works are traditional in form and language, recognizable as riffs on particular prayers. Other prayer poems offered here blend traditional themes with storytelling, music-like interlude, or liturgical reframing.
My hopes are that:
▪ Rabbis and other clergy incorporate some of this work into High Holy Day worship, including S’lichot and Tashlich.
▪ Congregations place copies of Enter These Gates in their pews and prayer bookshelves so that congregants and participants can encounter this work in private prayer during services.
▪ Individuals use this volume during the month of Elul and the Days of Awe as part of their own personal journeys of High Holy Day preparation.
▪ Educators use this volume for supplemental prayer in religious school worship in the weeks leading up to the High Holy Days, as well as for teaching High Holy Day themes.
▪ Rabbis, clergy, and educators use Enter These Gates to teach about the High Holy Days in adult education and conversion classes.
The introduction to Mishkan HaNefesh asks, “Opening a prayer book on the High Holy Days, what do we hope to find?” If a machzor (High Holy Day prayer book) is successful, it goes on to say, “It leads us on a path across rough terrain.” Soul searching. Introspection. Mortality. Our shortcomings. Our beliefs. “It tests our spiritual stamina, and we do well to make use of imagination and memory.”
Although Enter These Gates is a book of prayers and meditations for the High Holy Days, don’t be fooled. It is really a mirror. A dream. A doorway. It is a book of imagination and memory, a book of challenges and warnings, a book of hopes and aspirations. It is a descent into fire and an ascent into secrets that rise to heaven.
The Reform Israel Rabbinic Cabinet has created a monthly forum featuring the thoughts of two Reform rabbis on Israel. This content provides Reform rabbis with material for teaching and preaching about Israel in the month ahead. For Rosh Chodesh Av, Rabbi Jeremy Barras has been invited to share his perspective, and Rabbi Keren Gorban shares a Davar Acheir, a second perspective.
The Many Faces of Zionism, by Rabbi Jeremy Barras
A few days after this year’s CCAR Convention in Philadelphia, I wrote a note to my colleagues urging us to respect each other’s views on Israel. For many years, as someone who stands to the right of many in the Conference on such issues, I have been frustrated by what I perceived as a lack of support for Israel amongst our colleagues. In the past I would spend parts of the workday debating with one colleague or another. Over time, I realized these exchanges were not productive. On the contrary, they often unnecessarily caused hurt feelings.
For the past few years, and especially since October 7, I have softened my approach even further. It became perfectly clear to me after October 7 that we each care deeply about what happens in Israel, and we each share equally in the pain and suffering that October 7 and its aftermath have caused. I will admit that I felt a tinge of resentment when the war began, and many of us called on the Biden Administration to support Israel in her time of need. For the past twenty years, some of us—including myself—have been criticized for being so active in AIPAC. Now that we have seen such incredible support from our government for Israel, I resented that some of us have been working tirelessly on Capitol Hill to build these relationships that have produced such incredible results, all the while taking criticism for being “too right wing.”
That is how I felt in the days immediately following October 7. I no longer feel that way. As the war drags on, I feel that each one of us brings an important approach to support for Israel. What is important is that we each feel like we are fulfilling our responsibility to support Israel in the way we best see fit.
Recently, I finished reading Yehudah Mirsky’s excellent biography of Rav Kook. I have always been drawn to Rav Kook and his willingness to open the bounds of traditional Judaism to the innovations of modern Zionism. Mirsky beautifully describes Rav Kook’s ability to see the holiness in the commitment of secular Zionists. While the ultra-Charedi world dismissed the secular Zionists as antithetical to Judaism, Rav Kook recognized that through Zionist activity a Jew could be brought into the realm of spirituality.
From my perspective, October 7 intensified Jewish identity for Jews around the world. Overnight, we found ourselves frightened for our futures. But that fear caused us to look deeply at why we care so much. And when the encampments were disassembled and the protesters finally gave way, we could not help asking ourselves a couple of questions: What is it about being Jewish that is so important to us? Why do the lies and vitriol of our enemies hurt us so profoundly? And in these moments, when we ask these questions, we may each draw different conclusions. This is no different than the early Zionists. There were so many different schools of thought on how the goals of Zionism should be achieved. But ultimately, it was clear that all of them were necessary to build the State of Israel. Likewise, today, just as Ben Gurion argued with Begin, and A.D. Gordon debated with Rav Kook, our differences should not stifle our contributions, they should complement them. No matter what our views are, we will do better to begin with the baseline that we each love the State of Israel, and our differences no matter how profound, are imbued with the holiness of the Zionist spirit.
Davar Acheir, Another Perspective, by Rabbi Keren Gorban
We have entered the season when we remember, mourn, and seek comfort after the destructions of Jerusalem. The second of those destructions, our tradition teaches, resulted from שנאת חינם, sinat chinam, the free-flowing hatred and intolerance of others and their ideas, positions, and priorities. As Rabbi Barras rightly notes, the strength of our community depends on us valuing pluralism and learning from diverse perspectives.
I think it’s critical for us to recognize that our community also benefits from including the perspectives of those who identify as anti-Zionist and non-Zionist. When I meet with someone who tells me that they don’t believe in God, I invite more conversation: “Tell me about the God you don’t believe in.” Invariably, I don’t believe in that God either, but they and I can only discover our shared values and beliefs when we approach each other with respect and curiosity. From their opposition, I strengthen my own connection to God and learn more about how to teach theological complexity. They deepen their understanding of what people might mean when they refer to God, even if they ultimately decide that a relationship with God isn’t meaningful.
Likewise, we, as rabbis and as a movement, need to invite anti-Zionists and non-Zionists into conversation about the Zionism they oppose. These are not debates with the goal of proving one side right and the other wrong. These have to be open, curious, respectful opportunities to learn more about our hopes, visions, frustrations, etc., for and with the State of Israel. We will not always agree—in fact, we may often disagree—but let it be the result of deep understanding and love for each other rather than שנאת חינם, sinat chinam.
The Reform Israel Rabbinic Cabinet asks that if you choose to respond to these authors, you do so only with kavod harav—respect for the rabbi—sharing their wisdom, experience, time, and talent.
Rabbi Jeremy Barras is Senior Rabbi at Temple Beth Am in Pinecrest, Florida. He also serves on the CCAR board of trustees. Rabbi Keren Gorban serves Temple Beth El in Tacoma, Washington.
What inspired you to write Amen: Seeking Presence with Prayer, Poetry, and Mindfulness Practice?
I have always had an active inner life—curious about the spirit, wondering about the magical beauty in the natural world, observing how people interact, and contemplating the connection between it all. As the years went on, I became a lifelong student of the spirit. Amen is the poetic and prayerful expression of my inner life, turning the inner monologue into a dialogue with students, readers, and seekers.
How did you approach the writing process?
I am what is called an iterative or discovery writer. That is to say, I do not write from an outline. Rather, I begin my writing practice by quieting down; most often sitting quietly, reading poetry, or philosophical thought. I light candles and make my writing space serene and beautiful. And then magic happens. The muse stirs, and without hesitation, I follow her lead. But there are many days where writing is simply hard work, one word at a time. One sentence. A practice that demands the determination not to walk away and simply push through. Either way, for me, writing is part compulsion and part practice and all parts love.
Amen is your second book with CCAR Press. How does it differ from your first book, Omer: A Counting?
The counting of the Omer is a spiritual practice that lasts seven weeks. The book offers original writing and secular writing, which walks us through seven spiritual principles— decide, discern, choose, hope, imagine, courage, and pray—that, when practiced, can help us move from spiritual construction to personal freedom. Amen has two sections. The first section has prayers and poems that give voice to the inner life. The second section offers techniques for spiritual practice.
How do you recommend that readers use Amen? How can they incorporate it into a mindfulness practice?
I invite you to read as I write—in a nonlinear manner. Find a quiet moment, a peaceful corner, and randomly open the book. Let the prayer find you. Linger with the words, the images. Ask why this piece found you. What is its message in this moment? Or, use it as a reference. If you need a poem about peace, look it up; if you’re going to a meeting and need an opening prayer, it’s in the book. Let the poems be your companion as you search for the words to describe the life of the spirit.
Rabbi Fred Guttman (left) with his successor, Rabbi Andy Koren, at a civil rights rally in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Summer is often when many congregational rabbis begin new jobs, while others choose this time to retire. Here, Rabbi Fred Guttman shares insight into how retired rabbis can stay connected to rabbinic successors while enjoying retirement.
I was ordained in 1979 and retired three years ago at the age of sixty-nine.
I believe that in retirement, I have learned some very practical lessons that might apply to others. Here are nine reflections on retirement and succession:
Retirement is not the end of life. It is literally a time when you “put new tires on the car” (re-tire-ment!) and go someplace, whether literally or figuratively.
In retirement, realize you have a finite amount of time before you or your partner/spouse gets sick. Therefore, every day is precious! Carpe diem!
Find something or some things to do in retirement. Embrace them with the same gusto, strength, and dedication you had when working. In my case, I have led two trips of public-school Holocaust teachers to Poland, taught a college course, and became a member of the North Carolina Democratic Party State Executive Committee.
Travel. Travel frequently. And extend your stay if you can afford it. My wife and I have been spending lots of time in Atlanta and Israel, where we have kids and grandkids.
Speaking of grandchildren, if you are blessed to have them, cherish them! Hug and kiss them and enjoy every moment that you have with them!
Try to cultivate a good relationship with your successors. Do not get in their way. Give them the benefit of the doubt. They will do things differently. Realize that some of those things might actually be better!
Try as hard as you can to cultivate this friendship. In my case, this was easy because my successor and I worked together for eighteen years, and outside of my family, I still consider him to be my best friend!
To clergy successors: If the emeritus(a) clergy is still in town, ask him/her to do something occasionally. It doesn’t have to be much. It could be an adult study class or an occasional sermon. Invite them to give a tribute or eulogy along with yours at the funerals of our friends. These things make us feel useful and build on our friendship with you! Remember that the previous clergy still might have connections in the community and that they might have been and still could be an important part of the community.
“Respite for Ravs”: I believe that the last few years have been the most difficult years in the rabbinate that I have ever seen. From Covid, to sociological changes in the American Jewish community, to October 7, rabbis serving congregations have had to face incredible challenges. Many of our younger colleagues are really stressed out. Therefore, I propose that as retirees, we offer a program called “Respite for Ravs.” The program would suggest that a serving rabbi literally take the Shabbat/ weekend off and the retiree would cover in the congregation for no charge or honorarium. For rabbis in remote areas, the congregation would be expected to cover travel expenses. Doing this could give our stressed out colleagues a much-needed short break. Retired rabbis can also apply to join the Reform Movement’s Small Congregations Clergy Collaborative or apply to become an interim rabbi.
World Zionist Organization (WZO) Election: In the last elections, our slate garnered 31,000 votes. While this may sound like an impressive number, in actuality, it is quite low. We can do better! I suggested to Rabbi Josh Weinberg, the Vice President of the URJ for Israel, that we find fifteen to twenty retirees who could become regional captains for a “get-out-the-vote” (GOTV) campaign. Colleagues would be in touch with serving rabbis, offering encouragement, advice, and materials with the goal being to at least double our votes in the upcoming election. If interested, please contact Josh or me.
It is now time for the younger generation of clergy, politicians, and others to take over. Our generation did as well as we could.
I really love the Jewish concept called the “chain of tradition,” which as you know is based upon a tradition from the first Mishnah in Pirkei Avot: Moses received the Torah from Sinai and gave it over to Joshua. Joshua gave it over to the Elders, the Elders to the Prophets, and the Prophets gave it over to the People of the Great Assembly.
Every generation receives tradition and wisdom from the past, but eventually a new link in the chain needs to be created and a new generation needs to take over.
The “chain of tradition” will always need to add a new link. As retirees, we should welcome it and help in any way possible to make the new link as strong as possible!
Rabbi Fred Guttman in June 2024, teaching 36 public school teachers from North Carolina at the site of the Ghetto Wall in Krakow Poland.
Fred Guttman (HUC-JIR NY ‘79) served as Senior Rabbi of Temple Emanuel of Greensboro, North Carolina from 1995 to 2021.
Rabbi Dalia Marx, PhD, is the author of From Time to Time: Journeys in the Jewish Calendar from CCAR Press. In this interview, she discusses bringing her Hebrew book to an American audience, the importance of time in Judaism, and shares a playlist of songs featured in the volume.
From Time to Time has now been published in several languages. What does it mean to you to bring this book to English-speaking audiences?
It is a great privilege to open a gate to the largest Jewish community outside the State of Israel. I am very committed to Jewish communities around the world. I’ve spent around twenty-three years teaching North American rabbis-to-be at Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion. I have had many opportunities to visit North American communities and other English-speaking communities. So this is a great privilege to build bridges between Israel and English-speaking countries—not only to build bridges but to be bridges. I think this is one of the things From Time to Time is trying to do—to build a bridge and be a bridge between Israel and beyond.
This book is divided into month-based chapters. Can you share a bit about what readers will find in each chapter?
The book is divided by each Hebrew month. Every month there is a beautiful “medal” that the graphic designer made. It is a little bit like a riddle because later in the chapter we explore the different graphic images in the medal. Then there is some brief information about the month like the zodiac, the tribe of the month according to Jewish tradition, and the stone of the month. Then we have a kavanah, a meditation for the month. Next comes a song of the month—either a traditional, classical, or modern poem or song. Then we have iyunim. We kept the Hebrew terms because they fit so well. They are short considerations and conversations about what happens in the month. I tried to be concise, comprehensive, and to bring things that are not necessarily known to many people from different fields of Jewish life—different ethnic groups, eras, and different voices—especially marginalized voices. Each chapter ends with a prayer or prayers of the month with modern applications.
Why do you feel understanding the Jewish calendar is essential for fully comprehending Judaism?
I think the way we as Jews and human beings understand our existence, our reality, our relationship with other people, and the world and our communities is through time and by time. I think this is especially true for Jewish time. This is something we all share together—Jews in the four corners of the world—in Israel, North America, other places. The more you feel time, understand time, explore Jewish time, the more you immerse more fully and meaningfully with our Jewish identity and being.
That was my task with this book—to enhance the comprehension and celebration of the Jewish calendar. And to my great satisfaction, I hear more and more about people who are planning a Rosh Chodesh group or plan an adult education course based on the month, or make the book the text for Introduction to Judaism, sisterhood groups, and confirmation classes. I think it is wonderful that they choose this as a resource for exploring and enhancing Jewish life—among other books, of course.
How do you suggest that readers incorporate From Time to Time into their Jewish practices?
I know some people read the book cover to cover, but I think most people read it when the time calls. That is to say, before the holidays and festivals or at the beginning of the month. And different people have different practices, and it is very moving to hear how people use it. Some people leave the book on their bedside table, or they read it as their Rosh Chodesh practice. Some families leave it on their dining room table and read parts of it on Friday night. Some leave it on their coffee table and they open it occasionally. It can be used for different occasions and different times. I hope people will really be inspired by it.
This is not an encyclopedia—it is not aiming to be fully comprehensive. On the contrary, it invites us to continue exploring, considering, and learning from it and enhancing our knowledge. Audrey Honig, an HUC–JIR rabbinical student, created an absolutely fabulous study guide for the book. It follows each month, has questions for consideration and learning, and also includes activities to be done. The study guide makes the book much more than a traditional volume bound between two covers—it’s something to contemplate, explore, and then apply to one’s life. There is even a Spotify playlist with all of the Israeli music referenced in the book!
Rabbi Dalia Marx, PhD, is the Rabbi Aaron D. Panken Professor of Liturgy at Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) in Jerusalem. She is the chief editor of T’filat HaAdam, the Israeli Reform prayer book (MaRaM, 2020). From Time to Time: Journeys in the Jewish Calendar was first published in Israel in 2018 as Bazman and has been translated into German, Spanish, and now English.
Rabbi Debra J. Robbins is the author ofNew Each Day: A Spiritual Practice for Reading Psalms, recently published by CCAR Press. In this interview, she discusses how this book differs from her first volume focused on Psalm 27, the musical accompaniments written to complement the daily psalms, and how readers can engage with psalms in their own lives.
What inspired you to write New Each Day?
The readers of Opening Your Heart with Psalm 27inspired and encouraged me to write New Each Day. It was so gratifying that people found the daily practice of reading Psalm 27 over a seven-week period so meaningful that they wanted to continue their connections to psalms and their spiritual experiences throughout the year. I felt Shir Shel Yom, the daily psalms of our tradition, might be meaningful.
What was the most challenging part of creating this book?
There were two challenging experiences in working on this book. First, it was important to make the introduction new and fresh while maintaining the core of the spiritual practice laid out in the first book. I was able to address this challenge by learning a lot more about other authors’ writing practices, and I was able to enrich the introduction by doing research about how the seven psalms were selected and understood across history. The second challenging experience was how hard some psalms are to understand and confront over and over again. I found this especially with Psalm 94 for Wednesday. I just kept reading it, writing about it, and trying to find inspiration in it for my life and our world.
Cantor Richard Cohn wrote and recorded nigunim to complement the written text of New Each Day. How does music contribute to the book’s spiritual practice?
As Richard and I write about in the book and as we’ve taught, music helps our minds and hearts encounter sacred texts in new and inspiring ways. The suite of nigunim build upon each other and come to manifest qualities of each day in the cycle. As he writes in the Composer’s Commentary, “the seven nigunim are offered as a scaffolding…the meaning or significance…will emerge organically…”
New Each Day is your second volume with CCAR Press; both focus on a psalm practice. How does this new book differ from Opening Your Heart with Psalm 27?
New Each Day is different from Opening Your Heart primarily because it provides an opportunity to read and write, and sit and sing, with eight different psalms (seven for the days of the week and for the start of each month) instead of only one psalm over seven weeks. The spiritual practice is the same, but the organizing structure is a bit more complex to navigate. I think we developed tools to help the reader easily make their way through each month. The Opening Your Heart app has a variety of musical settings for verses of Psalm 27, as well as prompts for writing, and photographs to accompany each Reflection for Focus. I hope someday we might have these resources for New Each Day as they have been very popular with readers.
How do you recommend that readers use New Each Day?
There are many ways to use New Each Day. It was designed to be used for daily practice, following the flow of the designated psalms throughout the week and then back again, with each new month punctuated with Psalm 104, and a thematic Reflection for Focus. It can also be used monthly, using only the Psalm 104 section, or it can be used as an anthology to explore and reflect on a range of emotional, spiritual, and intellectual ideas, all raised by the ancient psalms and deeply resonant with our modern world. I look forward to hearing more from readers about how they are using the book!
One of the many rabbinic roles that the CCAR helps Reform congregrations fill is that of the interim rabbi. Congregations searching for interim rabbis may need additional time to hire the right rabbi: a long-term rabbi may have retired or left, or there may have been a crisis in the synagogue community, and the synagogue is in need of revitalization. Interim rabbis fill a crucial need in synagogues, partnering with lay leaders and staff to prepare a congregation for the arrival and success of a long-term rabbi, helping bridge important gaps in Reform communities, and ensuring that these communities receive the care, attention, and strong Jewish leadership they so deserve.
For most congregations, rabbinic transitions function best when an interim rabbi steps in to help maintain continuity, drive necessary change, and help ensure and grow vitality.
The work of an interim rabbi can be extraordinarily meaningful as much of the focus of this work is on strengthening Jewish communities in ways that will help the congregation’s next settled rabbi succeed. All kinds of rabbis—included retired or active—should think about doing interim work.
What makes a good interim rabbi? Rabbis interested in helping communities navigate and maintain strength during a year of transition, or active rabbis who are looking for a change or a new challenge.
The CCAR offers annual training for rabbis interested in the interim rabbinate and provides ongoing learning opportunities for members currently serving in an interim capacity.
Below are some voices of current interim rabbis who share the many reasons why this role is so meaningful.
We encourage CCAR members to consider becoming an interim rabbi.
Serving a congregation that has acknowledged their transition is fulfilling. My very presence opens a space for them to expand their thinking about who they are and who their next rabbi might be. Sharing best practices with the staff and leadership offers new possibilities that they may never have considered or thought too difficult to enact.
Seeing the institution as a whole, including systems and things that have receded to the background, because that is the way that it has always been done, allows them to reflect on what is working for them. Listening to a broad swath of the constituent communities of their congregation uncovers strengths and challenges that might not have been considered.
No matter what else, the congregations and institutions that we serve are not static, they change. That change might be long-planned or sought. That change might be abrupt or tragic. All institutions change and all institutions go through transition. Interim training is key for those of us who are serving as interim rabbis or are interested in serving as interim rabbis, but it is helpful for rabbis serving congregations in general because it helps us to understand how to support congregations in transition, and all congregations are in transition. The skills learned in interim training will be useful in your rabbinate.
RABBI DENNIS ROSS
As an interim rabbi, I’m often asked if it’s hard to leave each year. It is. We go through intense times together, on a personal level and as a congregation. It is hard to leave. But it is also my privilege to serve the Jewish people this way. An interim rabbi serves, as well, albeit one congregation at a time. We sustain and build communities, address congregational needs, and enhance the leadership capacity of staff and leaders. Everything we do helps prepare the congregation for the next rabbi, who benefits from a smoother transition, stronger start and, hopefully, a longer and a more fulfilling tenure.
I’m going into my sixth interim position, and it continues to be my “privilege” to:
Support a staff member in finding a less confrontational way to express their upset in challenging situations.
Ensure that the synagogue governance structure is working effectively and efficiently
Take initial steps to rebuild or recreate a teen engagement program.
Bring reassurance, hope and focus following a congregational trauma.
Uplift the legacy of an emeritus/emerita when years of service are taken for granted.
… And more.
It is only recently that our movement has begun to embrace the idea of interim service. For many years, a congregational rabbi would retire or take another position, a new “settled” rabbi would arrive, and the congregation would move forward in a positive direction, and this still happens in many situations. Yet, our congregations and entering rabbis find they are in a much better place when an Intentional Interim Rabbi serves the Jewish people by serving them.
Congregational leaders and staff enjoy a morale boost when an interim highlights the community’s strengths that were “hiding in plain sight” until the interim speaks about them. The community benefits when longstanding and beloved practices are identified, sustained, and strengthened. Everyone is better when unaddressed program needs are met, and the capacity of staff and leaders is enhanced.
RABBI DARRYL CRYSTAL
I have served 18 congregations as an interim rabbi over the last 20 years. I have learned that without a doubt that interim rabbis do important and meaningful work: An interim year is a critical time in the life of a congregation. A colleague may retire, move to another position, become ill, or there may have been conflict related to the colleague’s departure. Congregants are concerned about the present and future of the temple. Interim rabbis learn about the dynamics of transition. Interim rabbis can be an experienced leader who is a non-anxious presence.
There is also the rich opportunity to learn from congregations: As each person has a unique mitzvah that they bring to a congregation, so does each congregation have unique gifts. It may be a dynamic musical tradition, inspiring tefillot, social justice, new ways to engage people, commitment to youth, or Jewish learning. There is incredible creativity in the Jewish world today.
Overall, interim rabbis get to become part of the great story of Judaism in North America. Many of the congregations I have served are part of the extraordinary history of Jewish life in the United States. From Congregation Mikve Israel, the third-oldest synagogue in the United States, to founding congregation of the Reform movement, to temples that represent the growth of suburban Judaism, to synagogues that are embracing the future and shaping Judaism for today and tomorrow, as an interim rabbi you are part of the story and a messenger of the dynamism of Judaism.
