KOL HADASH . new voIce
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JULY/AUGUST 2012 • TAMMUZ/AV 5772
When a Tomato Was a Tomato
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We say in the Amidah ‘Melo kol haaretz kvodo’—the whole earth is filled with holiness. The week with the group at Mantana Azul was an experience of this truth. ”
BJoyous! BJHS Creates Mishloah Manot
Rabbi Marcelo R. Bronstein
I’ve been blessed in my life with two of the most amazing teachers you can ever have: my grandparents. I know that many of you feel the same about yours. I’ve heard your stories. Mine were extraordinary human beings. They understood the meaning of conversation, real dialogue, celebration, the joy of life, and people. They were really kind and loving. I received from them an incredible gem: unconditional love. No hidden agendas, no secrets, no negative baggage, just pure and unmitigated love. There were celebratory rituals in their home, not necessarily religious ones. Each Sunday the house was filled with friends, musicians, writers, psychoanalysts, and Jewish writers. It was called “the Temple” by these people because of what happened to them when they spent time there. As a child, I spent as much time with my grandparents as possible. I didn’t know it, but they were my rebbes. My grandmother taught me how to cultivate the land, how to plant tomatoes and lettuce, when was the right time to get the oranges and tangerines from the trees, and how to create a garden. I was so lucky to add the deep religious Jewish life to this spiritual foundation. In my adult life I realize that they knew something that most people work very hard to know. Today we all live very complex lives, pulled by multitasking, BlackBerries, iPhones, calendars, and a lack of time … There is no time in our busy lives for something that once was part of life. Everything is consumed by doing, and in this doing we separate ourselves from nature and our deepest selves, which are also part of the natural order, of the Ehad, the One. In that separation we are not even aware of what we have lost.
PHOTO: KRISTEN KERSEY
See page 5 for more photos and stories about the BJoyous! initiative this past Purim.
Remember when a tomato was a tomato, that had smell and taste? Today, we call it “organic”; in those days, they were just tomatoes, food was just food. We have separated food from its source, and so to have a glimpse of that taste we have created another category, separate from that which was once natural. In this separation, we have replaced conversation by texting and dialogue by emailing. Today we would call it “active listening” to stay in a conversation for three hours with somebody. In those days, it was what a real conversation required. Today we would call a “contemplative (continued on page 2)
Social Action/Social Justice. . . . . . . . . . . 4 Staff Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Youth & Family Education. . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 High Holy Days. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 BJoyous!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-9 Limud. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Member Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Yom HaShoah. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Communications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Tribute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Announcements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Contacts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
inside: It Takes a Hevra.......................................................................................................... 4 Membership Renewal and High Holy Day Information 2012....................................... 7 “Meshuginah Manipulations” of Purim?..................................................................... 8 Michael and Lydia: Parallel Paths............................................................................ 11 The NEW www.bj.org................................................................................................ 13 Remembering Ronald Seitenbach............................................................................ 14
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