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IFR NEWS Volume 2 Issue 15 Kislev 5770

In This Issue

What’s so special ? Pages 1- 4

Ravenous Ravs pg 5

IFR KALLAH pg 6

What is so special about Chanukah light? IFR Mission StatementThe IFR is a professional organization of rabbisunited by a commitment to Jewish tradition and a de-sire to facilitate the Jewish spiritual growth and lifecycle needs of all.

IFR provides a progressive, pluralistic forum, linkingmember rabbis in a spirit of friendship and a sense ofcommunity.

IFR provides support for members in their profes-sional endeavors and offers continuing education.IFR encourages professional relationships withrabbis and other rabbinic organizations.

King Solomon wrote “Everything is van-ity and nothing is new under the sun.”When the King wrote those words hewas talking about what it is like to seethe world in the light of the sun, or inthe light of nature. In the Zohar, thechief work of the Kabbalah, and whichitself means “brightness” or “brilliance,”we read that “everything is new whenseen in the light beyond the sun.”

The Zohar goes on to say that the lightof Chanukah is the light beyond thesun, the light beyond nature, the light ofmiracles.

So, shining our Chanukah light on theworld, we see the world in terms ofmiracles. For eight days, our sages tellus, we fill our eyes with the light of Cha-nukah so that when the festival is overwe are better able to see the miraclesin our own lives.

Years ago the CCAR offered a per-spective on Chanukah that applies to-day. In “Haneriot Halalu – These LightsAre Holy,” Rabbi Corey Weiss and oth-ers include ideas for a home celebra-tion that give special meaning to eachof the eight candles:

First Candle – Freedom - We remem-ber the dedication and courage of theMaccabees. We give thanks for free-dom and rededicate ourselves to theideals of justice.

Second Candle – Knowledge – Wegive thanks for the gift of Torah and theopportunity to study. We rededicateourselves to the deepening of our un-derstanding of our heritage

Third Candle – Good Deeds – Werecall our heritage that asks that weremember that we were once strangersin the land of Egypt. We rededicateourselves to helping the poor and theneglected.

Fourth Candle – Community – Weremember that we are a part of a largerfamily of humankind and we rededicateourselves to uphold the dignity of allpeople.

Fifth Candle – Land – We take pride inthe accomplishments of the pioneersand builders of the sate of Israel andwe rededicate ourselves to supporttheir efforts to create a garden in thedesert.

Sixth Night – Hope – We call to mindthe yearnings of our brothers and sis-ters who still live under oppression. Werededicate ourselves to keep the flameof their aspirations alive.

Seventh Candle – Family – We givethanks for the precious gift of lovedones who share our joys and sorrows.We gather to rededicate ourselves tostrengthening the bonds that draw us toone another.

Eighth Candle – Peace - We aremindful that, like Jews in every age, welive in a troubled world that cries out forharmony. We rededicate ourselves tothe responsibility of securing shalom forall.

It was Albert Einstein who said, “Thereare two ways of looking at the world;either you see nothing as a miracle oryou see everything as a miracle.”

Read on.

Enjoy and then apply the miracles yourIFR colleagues have made in the livesof others. Chag Chanukah Sameach!

IFR News EditorsRabbi Barbara Aiello and Rabbi Frank Tamburello

Layout/design: shosh

Page 2IFR NEWS Volume 2 Issue 15 Kislev 5770

The Greater Waco (TX) Interfaith Conference featureda Chanukah program that involvedclergy and congregants from twelvefaith communities. Called “Lightingthe Path to Understanding,” theprogram emphasized the lights ofthe season and included the eightcandles of the Chanukah menorahas well as the four candles of the

Christian Advent Wreath. Muslims participated as wellmembers of nine different Christian communities.

A highlight of the evening were the “interfaith des-serts,” sweets that each group brought, explained andshared with others. IFR member Rabbi GordonFuller (Congregation Agudath Jacob, Waco, TX) or-ganized not only the Chanukah interfaith event but anannual spring festival, “Festival of Faiths.” The culturalexposition includes representatives from the Bahai,Hindu, Muslim, Unitarian, Christian and Jewish commu-nities and participants enjoy traditional foods and (ledby Rabbi Fuller) Israeli dancing!

IFR member Rabbi Maggid Dov(Bruce) Forman of Ft. Lauderdale(FL) serves his community as an ordainedmaggid, a traditional storyteller and spiri-tual teacher. Rabbi Forman is well-knownin the community for his ability to makeJewish tradition come alive through the artof story telling. From his friend Rabbi SamIntrator, Rabbi Forman shares the follow-ing Chassidic tale – a tale of a miracle:

This is a story about the Heiliger Rebbe, Aaron Karliner, wholived about a hundred years after the Baal Shem Tov. In thetown of Karlin, near Pinsk in Russia, it’s widely known thatwhen you daven (i.e., pray) you scream at the top of yourlungs. Reb Asher, Reb Aaron's son, once asked his father, "IfI scream when I daven as loud as if I've been stabbed, G-dforbid, is that loud enough? He answered him, "Yes, that'sokay for the beginning of the davenen. Start from there andget louder as you go along."Once late on a summer afternoon, the holy Karliner rebbetold his Chasidim (followers), "Prepare the horses. We haveto travel for Mincha (the afternoon prayers). When they gotgoing, it was already late. They arrived well after dark at alittle shtetl (ghetto) and the Chasidim couldn't restrain them-selves, "Rebbe, it's so late already. When are we going todaven?” So the Karliner answered the Chasidim, "Okay. Atthe end of the village there is a little inn. We'll go daventhere." They go and knock on the door. An old, old, old manopens the door. He looks to be maybe120. The Chasidim tellthe old man that they have come with their Rebbe to daventhe afternoon prayers. So he lets them in.

Could you imagine, considering how long they were waitingto daven, how especially loud the Chasidim screamed theirprayers on that night. And if that were not enough it wassuch a hot summer night, so all the windows were open. Sothe neighbors, hearing the screaming coming from thehouse, figured there must be a fire. And everybody in ashtetl knows, with all the houses made of wood and so closeto each other, if one house catches fire, then the whole shetlburns down. Mamesh! (really). So the whole town gets up

and brings buckets of water to the house. Of course whenthey get there, they see a different sort of fire than whatthey expected. They see holy fire.The townspeople got caught up in the excitement, and theytoo, were screaming prayers at the top of their lungs. It wasdavenen like not to be believed, like never before and neverafter. The cries of all reached until high heaven. After thedavenen was finally over, the townspeople went to theirhomes and came back with all kinds of fruits. They had agreat feast, and the Heiliger Karliner blessed everyone. Asthe day broke, the townspeople all went home. The Rebbeand the Chasidim prepared their wagons to leave. The Rebbewas already sitting in his coach and motioned over the oldinn keeper for a final goodbye. That’s when the old man be-gan to speak. He said, "This inn belonged to my father andhis father before him. I am 107 years old today. When I wasseven, one hundred years ago, the Holy Baal Shem Tov(founder of the Chasidic movement) came to this inn. Hecame late at night, just as you came. He prayed loudly theway you prayed. And all the people of the town ran towardthem just as they did today.

They all poured out their hearts to the Holy One, Blessed BeHe. The townspeople all came back with fruits and we had agreat feast. When it was finally all over, the Baal Shem Tovblessed everyone. It was all just like tonight. The Baal ShemTov got into his carriage, and just as he was about to leave,he called me over. He placed his holy hand on my head andsaid to me, I want you to remember this night and remem-ber what I am saying to you now. One hundred years fromnow, there will be prayers and a feast in this place, just asthere was tonight. So please tell the people who come then,that I was here."

Rabbi Bill Kurry shares the miracle

of diversity when he writes, “I am anew member of IFR and ordained only5 months ago. Since that time I havebooked a dozen weddings, a funeral

and a baby naming. It is absolutely unbelievable how muchneed there is for Rabbis with Jewish/interfaith sensitivity, sup-port and accommodation. I am not a young man and havebeen very much involved in Jewish synagogues and the Jew-ish community for almost 50 years.

Not long ago Rabbi Kurry received a call from a woman whowas married to an ultra-orthodox man. She and he husbandwere the parents of five children and the family had spent theirlife within this very insular community. The woman revealed toRabbi Kurry that she was gay, but that she had worked hard tobury this aspect of herself deep within.

When she finally opened up and revealed this, many withwhom she spoke were horrified at the revelation. They sug-gested a range of “cures,” including psychological help andhormone injections. Eventually she and her husband were os-tracized from the community.Following her traditional divorce (“get”), she fell in love. RabbiKurry reports that he was honored to officiate at her civil unionceremony.

When this lovely lady asked, “What kind of Rabbi are you?” Hereplied, "one who loves everyone with no conditions." She saidwith a smile, “Oh, then your a renegade Rabbi!" Rabbi Kurry,who wears the honor proudly, reports that it was a wonderful,miraculous moment for the couple and for him as well.

IFR NEWS Volume 2 Issue 15 Kislev 5770Page 3

Seniors in Assisted Living Make Chanukah Cardsfor Jewish troops in Iraq and Afganistan

On Tuesday, November 10, IFR member RabbiBarbara Aiello worked with residents in Anchin Pa-vilion, Sarasota’s (FL) only Jewish Assisted Living Facil-ity as they marshaled l their artistic talents to createChanukah greeting cards for Jewish soldiers stationedin Iraq an Afghanistan.

The program is part of The Rabbi’s Mitzvah Clubcommunity service projects, devised by Rabbi Barbara,who works with Jewish seniors, some of whom are 100years old or more, to reach out into the community anddo for others.

“The Hebrew word, “mitzvah” literally means“commandment” and we Jews are commanded to dogood deeds,” said Rabbi Barbara, who has organizedthe group to make hand puppets and Passover sederplates for elementary school students, and dish gardensfor the Tuttle Elementary School teachers to show ap-preciation for their hard work.

The November mitzvah program featured colorful Cha-nukah cards that will become part of a package sent toProject MOT, a national organization that supports ourJewish servicemen and women. Co-facilitators of LosAngeles based Project MOT, Joan Rimmon and MarshaRoseman contacted Rabbi Barbara who was only toohappy to help.

Ms. Roseman reports, "We sent almost 100 holiday carepackages to our deployed Jewish troops last year. Allwere well received and enjoyed by enjoyed by our

brave heroes in their various parts of the world “,

IFR member RabbiRoger Ross (NYC) trav-els the globe to encouragecommunities to develop in-terfaith education projects.What follows are exerptsfrom the rabbi’s “Call to Un-derstanding – The need forInterfaith education”:

Throughout the ages, it has been said that many of themost horrific wars have been fought in the name ofGod. People who lead their countries to war do it forpower, possessions, and wealth, but the “common”people are convinced that it is a war of one faithagainst another. If only there was a way to teach thetruth is that there is only one God and that we are allchildren of that God.

The call to war has usually included the words, “God ison our side,” and that statement has been used to jus-tify killing or enslaving anyone who prays differently orfollows a different path. The horrible events that havehappened in the recent past have been perpetrated inthe name of religion and one faith versus another. Thewars in Africa, the World Trade Center attack, the con-flict between Israelis and Palestinians, the terror inNorthern Ireland, the Balkans, Chechnya and every-where else in the world have usually been labeled a“Holy War” and include some form of ethnic cleansingthat follows religious lines.

Interfaith education is the way to teach the truth andend this damaging cycle. The process is simple, butthe commitment is the challenge. Are we ready to dosomething different than we have in the past?

The value of interfaith education has become more andmore apparent. After the tragedy of September 11th,2001, the greatest presence among the volunteers andchaplains at Ground Zero were interfaith ministers andstudents. Before the work there was done, every chap-lain, be they Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, or anyother faith, had found the truth for themselves andwere acting as Interfaith clergy so that they could sup-port all the rescue workers and families with respectand knowledge of the faiths and traditions of those theywere helping.

Continued on next page

IFR Rabbis Rifuah Shlema

Rabbi Raphael Pazo

Valerie Allen (wife of Rabbi Dick Allen)

IFR NEWS Volume 2 Issue 15 Kislev 5770Page 4

Continued from page 3

The most important part of an interfaith education isthe ability to really see and hear the truths of all thefaiths, and how we all are living with the same preceptseven if we define them with our own unique languages.In their book Spiritual Literacy (Touchstone Books,1998), authors Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat teach agreat lesson in, “seeing.”

They tell about Oggie Rand. He manages a cigar storein Brooklyn. Oggie has an unusual habit - at preciselyeight o'clock each morning, he photographs the front ofthe store from exactly the same spot. He collects hisdaily snapshots in photograph albums, each labeled bydate. He calls his project his "life's work."

One day Oggie showed his albums to a friend. Flippingthe pages of the albums, the man noticed in amaze-ment that the pictures were all the same! Oggiewatched him skim through the pictures and finally re-plied, "You'll never get it if you don't slow down, myfriend. The pictures are all of the same spot, but eachone is different from every other one. The differencesare in the detail. In the way people's clothes changeaccording to season and weather. In the way the lighthits the street. Some days the corner is almost empty.Other times it is filled with people, bikes, cars andtrucks. It's just one little part of the world, but thingstake place there, too, just like everywhere else."

This time Oggie's friend looked more carefully at eachpicture. No two were alike. He slowly became aware ofhow unique every moment is. Through a series of pho-tographs, he became conscious of one of life's greattruths -- that each minute that passes is special, evensacred!

If we learn, through interfaith education, to look andreally see, we, too, will realize that each faith, and eachhuman being who professes that faith, is a unique andsacred part of the whole scheme of existence. We willbegin to remember that, beneath the words we havealways heard before, the truth is there for us to see andlearn.

So, how can each one of us begin to share the interfaithperspective that “All Is One?” We can teach our childrennot to fear, hate or judge out of hand. We can teachthem that we are all one people, displayed in differentcolors, beliefs and cultures. We can teach tolerance.Judaism speaks about Tikkun Olam, the healing of theworld. We can share those same concepts with willingfriends and family and create a small Tikkun Olamwithin our own community. The path to that under-standing is through interfaith education.

Rabbi Brenda Shoshanna (NYC) paints a master-piece with words of peace and reflection when sheshares about her revolutionary and creative combina-tion Zen meditative practice with Jewish traditions.

As founder of The Mishkan, The Center for Jewish andZen Practice, Rabbi Shoshanna explains that The Mish-kan offers a unique combination of meditation, reflec-tion and the practice of Jewish holiday traditions.

“For Chanukah we have offered a 3-5 day retreat thatblends simple zazen sitting and chanting along with lec-tures and group sharing. The kindling of the Chanukahlights along with the zazen meditation allows Jews tobring light into their own hearts and to experience themeaning of the holiday in a beautiful context,” Sho-shanna says.

Rabbi Shoshanna emphasizes that Zazen meditation isnot a religion but a practice that enhances spiritual de-velopment within any religion to which the practice isapplied. For this reason, it can be a useful tool in deep-ening Jewish understanding.

The Miskhan center is dedicated to the enhancing theJewish experience by adding Torah study, Hebrewchanting and kiddush to the basic Zen practice thatforms the foundation of Rabbi Shoshanna's work.

Bruchim Ha’baim to new IFR members

Rabbi Torey Bowen

Rabbi Neil Brill

Rabbi Bill Kurry

Rabbi Leonard Sarko

Rabbi Shai Specht

Rabbi Robert Teixeira

Rabbi Renae Lee Toben

Ravenous RavsRabbi Frank Tamburello’s columnfeaturing Jewish holiday Eats andTreats

Here is a somewhat healthy Chanukah treat inspired bythat old fashioned bubbe, Martha Stewart....

Tasty Chanukah Gelt1 lb. dried apricots1 lb. bittersweet chocolate, choppedaluminum foil, candy wrappers (optional)

1. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Heat chocolate over a double boiler. Allow the waterin the boiler to get hot, but not fully boil. Use a plasticspatula to scrape away chocolate from the sides. Re-move from the heat as soon as the chocolate is melted.You may use a microwave if you prefer. Melt the choco-late in a glass bowl in short intervals, stirring well withspatula.

3. Immediately add all the apricots to the melted choco-late. carefully life each piece out of the pot with a forkallowing some of the excess chocolate to drip off. For amore sophisticated look, try holding each apricot by oneend with your fingers and dripping only half of it into thechocolate.

4. Place carefully on parchment lined baking sheet.Refrigerate until the chocolate becomes firm about20-30 minutes. You can also wrap each piece in foil togive as gifts. Store in refrigerator. If refrigerated theycan last up to a week, though they are best if eatenwithin 3 days.

Chanukah Iced CookiesYield: 4 1/ dozen

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 large egg

2 tablespoons brandy

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups powdered sugar

2 large egg whites

1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

blue food coloring assorted decorations (such as blueand white crystallized sugar; optional)

Sift first 3 ingredients into medium bowl. Using electric mixer,beat 1 cup sugar and butter in large bowl to blend. Add egg,brandy and vanilla. Beat until very smooth and light in color.Add dry ingredients and beat just until well blended. Shapedough into 3 disks. Wrap each in plastic and chill until firmenough to roll, at least 1 hour. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead.Let dough soften slightly at room temperature before rollingout.)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter 2 large baking sheets. Roll out 1dough disk on lightly floured surface to 1/8-inch thickness.Cut out cookies with assorted cookie cutters and transfer to

prepared sheets. Gather scraps; roll out dough and cut outmore cookies. Transfer to sheets. Bake cookies until just be-ginning to color at edges, about 10 minutes. Let stand onsheet 5 minutes; transfer to rack. Cool cookies and cool bakingsheets. Repeat with remaining 2 dough disks.

Whisk powdered sugar, egg whites and lemon juice in mediumbowl until well blended. Spoon 1/4 of icing into small bowl; tintwith blue food coloring. Spread white icing on cookies; deco-rate with blue icing and sprinkle with assorted decorations, ifdesired. Let stand until icing is firm and dry. (Can be prepared3 days ahead. Store cookies at room temperature in single lay-ers between sheets of waxed paper in airtight containers.)

IFR NEWS Volume 2 Issue 15 Kislev 5770 Page 5

Mark your calendars!2010 Study Kallah Delray Beach Florida

March 16-18 2010

IFR NEWS Volume 2 Issue 15 Kislev 5770Page 6

Head Count DEADLINE

DECEMBER 15 2009

The IFR is planning to host an IFR

Study Kallah in March 2010.

If any of you would like a teaching slotplease let me know as soon as possible. .

Kallah instructors will be given a reductionoff the standard fee schedule.

Private room and bathroom (allmeals ) $275.00 per person for 2nights. Commuter rate is 145.00 per per-son. (includes all meals)

The Study Kallah begins Tuesday March 16and ends Thursday March 18 2010 at theDuncan Center in Delray Beach Florida.

This study Kallah is open to non IFR mem-bers as well.

Email shosh: rabbis@bellsouth.net