Back home for Shabbes

Last Friday was our first Shabbat back at Beth Shalom since Rita. We are definitely camping out. The lighting is poor, there is no sound system, and a good number of the seats could not be used. Most of the seats could not be bolted back to the cement floor and are swathed in yellow “Caution” tape as a warning. Still the Shabbat Queen comes for the people, not the palace. We made do. In spite of the somewhat grim surroundings, home is still home and it is a tremendous blessing to use the shul again.

Saturday morning was no different than any Shabbes morning. We davened in the green room, which was relatively untouched by Rita. Now that there are no ark curtains and such drying in there the space is useable.

We are working on plans for a temporary beautification of the sanctuary, so that it looks more like a tent in the desert than a warehouse with stained glass. Louis S. is looking into a loaner sound system so we will be ready for Arthur Green’s visit and Dara’s Bat Mitzvah.

The watchword for the year is “SAVLANUT”--- patience. The renewal of Beth Shalom will take time. Even when there is a great deal going on, it may look like nothing is happening. Be assured that there are many people devoting themselves to this project and all Beth Shalomites will have ample opportunities to offer their input.

Some mitzvot can be accomplished in an instant. This one cannot:

Let them build me a sanctuary that I might dwell among them.

Shabbat Shuvah

Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God

Shabbat Shuvah, 5766

It was strange to be away from the shul on the Sabbath of Return. Shabbes services both Friday Night and Saturday were in Adult classroom 1 at Jefferson Baptist Church. These were the last regular services we will have at the Church. Following Yom Kippur services, which will be in the JBC main auditorium, we will be davening in our own building again. I am not sure exactly where in the building we will pray, but it will be good to be home again.

Minna Bromberg led us in a chanting service for the first third of our davening this morning. This is something I plan to do from time to time. It is a good thing to allow ourselves to sink into selected parts of the liturgy. The chant and the repetition of the phrases allow the words to enter the heart in a different way than they do when pray the service in a conventional way.

In celebration of delicious cool air, I began services this morning with the following poem by Mary Oliver. You should have a copy of her collection “Why I Wake Early” for a morning like we had today:

Where Does the Temple Begin, Where Does It End? (Mary Oliver)
There are things you can’t reach. But
you can reach out to them, and all day long.

The wind, the bird flying away. The idea of God.

And it can keep you as busy as anything else, and happier.

The snake slides away; the fish jumps, like a little lily,
out of the water and back in; the goldfinches sing
from the unreachable top of the tree.
I look; morning to night I am never done with looking.

Looking I mean not just standing around, but standing around
as though with your arms open.

And thinking: maybe something will come, some
shining coil of wind,
or a few leaves from any old tree ? 
they are all in this too.

And now I will tell you the truth.
Everything in the world
comes.

At least, closer.

And, cordially.

Like the nibbling, tinsel-eyed fish; the unlooping snake.
Like goldfinches, little dolls of gold
fluttering around the corner of the sky

of God, the blue air.

The New Moon of Tishri

Last night the thinnest sliver of the new moon of Tishri appeared in the sky. The year has begun. I know we are hoping that 5766 will be much sweeter than its predecessor.

We may be in exile from our building for the High Holidays, but we are being sheltered by good friends. Services went beautifully in the Jefferson Baptist auditorium. Our friends at JBC have done so much more than provide us with space. They have also volunteered as support staff to make sure everything goes smoothly. Mike B. of JBC trained “Wolfman” Steve W. to run the sound board. Those of you in the kahal cannot see him up there with his headphones on making adjustments. He is in heaven.

JBC has digital recording equipment and so we were able to record the services. The sermons will be on the soon to open members section of our website. Our ancient sound equipment was directly under one of the many waterfalls that poured into the building. Most modern systems have some kind of recording capacity.

We were able to do some things at JBC that we could not have done at Beth Shalom. Some of our Shofar blowers were in the side and back balconies, so that the room was filled with the wild, stirring sounds of Yom Teruah, the Day of the Trumpet Blast.

Our members seemed to enjoy sitting on the comfortable JBC pews, something to keep in mind as we redesign our sanctuary. Pews are more communal than rigidly separate theater seats. A child can rest on her parent’s lap during the service and a family or group can truly sit together.

Many thanks to Minna Bromberg, our cantorial soloist, who brings such beauty, authenticity, and ruach to our services. She will be singing some of her own compositions at services this Friday night. Don’t miss it.

Shanah tovah u’metukah
A good and sweet year to all of you.

Another Day's Work

Volunteers were at the shul again today, moving all the seats back into the sanctuary so that the social hall, shell that it is, can be used for the kiddush lunches on the first and second days of Rosh HaShanah. We will be migrating back to the shul from Jefferson Baptist for these events.

A congregation in New Jersey sent our community Rosh HaShanah cards that their religious school students made. Our kids used them to decorate the social hall.

We will be back in the shul after the High Holidays, but the design and build process will take some time. We will need to be patient and live with the inconvenience of an unfinished space through much of 5766. This process cannot be rushed. It is too important. Remodeling on this scale only happens a few times in the life of a congregation. A renewed Beth Shalom will be this generation’s gift to the congregation’s future. We are in the midst of one of the most important tasks in Beth Shalom’s history. This work must and will be done with great care.

To all our friends and supporters around the country: Many blessings to you and Shanah Tovah.

To the Beth Shalom chevre: I’ll see you in church.

Welcome Beth Shalom

Sometime early this morning or late last night, our friends at Jefferson Baptist Church put up signs on their many doors to point our chevre toward the room we are using for Saturday morning services. I followed the trail and when I reached the correct door there was a sign that read: Welcome Beth Shalom.

This is how JBC is making us feel---welcome---more than welcome, in fact.

Last night we had our first service in the Church’s main auditorium. It is a beautiful space and will work perfectly for the High Holidays. Rev. French and Mike B., stayed through services last night to make sure everything went well. Afterwards our Steve W. and their Mike B., who really are mirror images of each other, huddled in the auditorium to make further plans. Mike is a whiz with JBC’s incredible sound system and offered to consult with Steve when we get replacing ours. The equipment was directly under one of the many waterfalls that poured into the building last Saturday.

It is incredible to me that it was just a week ago that we discovered the damage to the synagogue. I feel like I have lived a month in that time. On the other hand, I am stunned with how quickly we got ourselves organized. Two task forces are at work on the design and financial aspects of the reconstruction. The logistics of doing services outside our building were planned at lightening speed.

I have had several conversations with Larry Hoffman of the Hebrew Union College. Larry is hoping to be able to come down to Baton Rouge and do a program for us on the design of sacred space. He also has spoken to the top consultant in this area of architecture, Richard Vosko, who wants to participate in the project, time permitting. Larry, through Synagogue 2000 is sending Steve C. and I to a sacred space design conference in November, at their expense. Larry said that he feels a kinship with us that makes it imperative to help us.

During the last week I have experienced the truth of the Talmud’s teaching: Either friends or death (Taanit 23a).