• High Holy Days visits (5769/2009)
• High Holy Days visits (5768/2008)
• Chanukah visit (5768/2008)
• Presidents’ Weekend visit (5768/2008)
• Passover visit (5768/2008)
LIST OF SOURCES: Material that I have shared at the TJC
I hereby express my gratitude to the following composers, authors, and anonymously edited classic texts.
High Holy Days visits (5769/2009)
ROSH HA-SHANAH EVENING
• “I will be serving as your river guide”: based upon a motif from the TJC Ritual Committee
• SERMON: “Is It Safe Yet”: Interview with poet and memoirist Marjorie Agosín on September 23, 2004 by Gregory Donovan and Jeff Lodge, editors of Blackbird: An Online Journal of Literature and the Arts, Virginia Commonwealth University; recording and transcript at http://tinyurl.com/agosin. Story about Croatian actor Ines Wurth from the one-woman show “I Miss Communism” by Ines Wurth and Mark Soper (2005), http://imisscommunism.com.
• “B’yado” (song), Hebrew lyrics from the hymn Adon Olam (anonymous, at least 600 years old); English lyrics by Craig Taubman; music by Craig Taubman; from the album “Friday Night Live” (1999).
• “My Wish for 5769”: adapted from an unpublished poem by Rabbi Margaret Holub.
ROSH HA-SHANAH FIRST DAY
• “Return Again,” lyrics by R. Kahn (free translation of a traditional prayer), music by Shlomo Carlebach.
• Translations of Psalm 36:8–11 and Psalm 90 by Joel Rosenberg, from the siddur Kol Haneshamah (The Reconstructionist Press).
• “Ve-nahar yotzei me-Eden” (Gen. 2:10), music by Shefa Gold.
• “Just as we find our own pace walking through art museums . . . ,” by Rabbi David A. Teutsch, from the machzor Kol Haneshamah (The Reconstructionist Press), p. 195.
• “The service of gratitude is eternal . . . ,” by Rabbi Mordecai M. Kaplan, from the machzor Kol Haneshamah (The Reconstructionist Press).
• Interpretive translation of Nishmat prayer by Marge Piercy, from the siddur Kol Haneshamah (The Reconstructionist Press), pp. 232–33.
• Running translation of parts of Yishtabach prayer by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi.
• Nehemiah 8:1–8 adapted from the New Jewish Publication Society translation.
• “Mi Shebeirach” (free translation of traditional prayer), lyrics by Debbie Friedman and Drorah Setel, music by Debbie Friedman.
• STORY: “Gideon’s Horn”—adapted from the short story “Gabriel’s Horn” by Rabbi Mitchell Chefitz in his The Curse of Blessings (Philadelphia: Running Press, 2006), pp. 39–47.
ROSH HA-SHANAH SECOND DAY
• “Ilu Finu” (from the traditional Nishmat prayer), music by Rabbi Miriam Margles.
• “On a hospital bed . . . may we be ready,” by Rabbi Carl Choper, from the machzor Kol Haneshamah (The Reconstructionist Press), p. 269.
• “Appointed time has come” (liturgical poem): vowelized Hebrew text adapted from www.piyut.org.il/textual/english/24.html.
• “B’yado” (song): see above, Rosh ha-Shanah Evening.
YOM KIPPUR EVENING
• “If Yom Kippur is the answer, what is the question?”: excerpted and adapted from a piece by Rabbi Richard Hirsh.
• SERMON-STORY: “Delayed Atonement: A True Story of Reconciliation”: adapted from newspaper feature articles by T. Christian Miller (Los Angeles Times, 12/11/99) and by Steve Getzug (Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, 12/10/99), and from George Gregory’s obituary by Dennis Mclellan (Los Angeles Times, 3/20/05).
• “B’yado” (song): see above, Rosh ha-Shanah Evening.
YOM KIPPUR DAY
• “You knew me long before you fashioned me . . . ,” Hebrew poem by Rabbi Yehudah Halevi, transl. by Joel Rosenberg, from the machzor Kol Haneshamah (The Reconstructionist Press), pp. 149–50.
• “Each of us is bombarded daily with messages . . . ,” by Rabbi David A. Teutsch, from the machzor Kol Haneshamah (The Reconstructionist Press), p. 150.
• Mishnah Yoma 8:9, Talmud Berakhot 34b, and Midrash Ecclesiastes Rabbah 8.18: translations by Joel Rosenberg, from the machzor Kol Haneshamah (The Reconstructionist Press), pp. 183, 185, 187.
• SERMON: “The Divine Flow: Three Lessons from the Zohar”: Sava de-Mishpatim, Zohar 2:94b–99a, adapted from the translation by Daniel Matt, The Zohar: Pritzker Edition, vol. 5 (Stanford University Press, forthcoming); quotations of Melila Hellner-Eshed from A River Flows from Eden: The Language of Mystical Experience in the Zohar, translated from the Hebrew by Nathan Wolski (Stanford University Press, forthcoming); “Ve-nahar yotzei me-Eden” (Gen. 2:10), music by Rabbi Shefa Gold.
• “The Ballad of Jonah ben Amittai,” based on lyrics printed in London between 1584 and 1628, reprinted in Hyder E. Rollins, A Pepysian Garland: Black-Letter Broadside Ballads of the Years 1595–1639 (Cambridge University Press, 1922); expanded and adapted in light of insights gained from The JPS Bible Commentary: Jonah (1999) by Uriel Simon; set to the music of “Packington’s Pound” (traditional).
• “Havdalah” (traditional prayer), music by Debbie Friedman
High Holy Days visits (5768/2008)
ROSH HA-SHANAH EVENING
• “Return Again,” lyrics by R. Kahn (free translation of a traditional prayer), music by Shlomo Carlebach.
• Quotation about Rav and Kahana from the Talmud of Babylonia: B’rachot 62a.
• Quotation by Rav from the Talmud of the Land of Israel: Kiddushin 4:12 (end).
• Quotation by Nachman of Bratslav, from Nathan of Nemirov, Sichos ha-Ran (Rabbi Nachman’s Teachings) #94; translation from Aryeh Kaplan, Rabbi Nachman’s Wisdom (NY: Sepher-Hermon Press, 1973), p. 219.
• Excerpt from “The Frisco Kid” (1979), screenplay by Michael Elias and Frank Shaw, directed by Robert Aldrich.
ROSH HA-SHANAH FIRST DAY
• “Morning Blessings” (free translation of traditional prayer), lyrics and music by Shefa Gold.
• “Achat Shaalti” (from Psalm 27), music by Shlomo Carlebach.
• “Ashira la-Yah” (based on Psalm 104:33), lyrics and music by Shefa Gold.
• “Ilu Finu” (from the traditional prayer), music by Miriam Margles.
• “As We Bless,” lyrics and music by Faith Rogow.
• “Mi Shebeirach” (free translation of traditional prayer), lyrics by Debbie Friedman and Drorah Setel, music by Debbie Friedman.
ROSH HA-SHANAH SECOND DAY
• “Packing Slip,” excerpt from the poem by Jessica Greenbaum, in Salamander II/2 (2006); reprinted in The Torah: A Women’s Commentary (NY: URJ Press, in press), p. 786.
• Quotation from Barry Lopez, Crow and Weasel (North Point Press, 1990).
• “The Sword of Wood” (international folk tale), adapted from the version of storyteller Doug Lipman (West Somerville, Massachusetts).
• “Barcheinu Avinu” (traditional prayer), music by Shlomo Carlebach.
YOM KIPPUR EVENING
• “Thank You,” excerpt from the poem by W. S. Mervin.
• “The Measure of Success,” adapted from the short story by Mitchell Chefitz in his The Curse of Blessings (Philadelphia: Running Press, 2006), pp. 81–89.
YOM KIPPUR DAY
• “Prayer Is . . . ,” excerpt from Who Needs God by Rabbi Harold Kushner.
• “Days of Awe,” excerpt from the poem by Joan Logghe, in Joan Logghe and Miriam Sagan, eds., Another Desert: Jewish Poetry of New Mexico (Santa Fe: Sherman Asher Publishing, 1998).
• Quotations from “New Year’s Message from Reb Zalman (September 11th, 2007),” The Reb Zalman Legacy Project (Fall-Winter 2007), www.rzlp.org.
• “The Ballad of Jonah ben Amittai,” based on lyrics printed in London between 1584 and 1628, reprinted in Hyder E. Rollins, A Pepysian Garland: Black-Letter Broadside Ballads of the Years 1595–1639 (Cambridge University Press, 1922); expanded and adapted in light of insights gained from The JPS Bible Commentary: Jonah (1999) by Uriel Simon; set to the music of “Packington’s Pound” (traditional).
• “Havdalah” (traditional prayer), music by Debbie Friedman
Chanukah visit (5768/2008)
SHABBAT EVENING
• Prayerbook handout photocopied and adapted from Kol Haneshamah: Shabbat Vehagim, 2nd edn. (Wyncote, PA: Reconstructionist Press, 1994).
• “Mah Gadlu” (from Psalm 92), music by Shefa Gold.
• “We are loved by an unending love” chant, words from “Unending Love” by Rami Shapiro, as adapted in Kol Haneshamah, p. 61.
• Amidah insertion for Chanukah, translation by Joel Rosenberg from Kol Haneshamah, p. 102.
• Interpretive translation of Hashkiveinu, “The Dark Embraces Everything,” by Rainer Maria Rilke (as it came to him circa 1900), as translated from the German by Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy, from The Book of Hours: Love Poems to God (1997).
• Kavvanah (orientation) for the Amidah, excerpted from a poem by Rainer Maria Rilke, translated by Stephen Mitchell (adapted).
SHABBAT MORNING
• One-page Amidah, adapted from an article in the Reconstructionist (Jan.–Feb. 1987) by Steven G. Sager, as modified in Raayonot (1990).
• Translation of Psalms 30 from Tanakh, the New Jewish Publication Society version (second edition, 1999), adapted.
• “On Chanukah (Hodaah Insert),” from Mishkan T’filah (June 2005 draft).
Presidents’ Weekend visit (5768/2008)
SHABBAT EVENING SERVICES
• Prayerbook excerpts from: Kol Haneshamah: Shabbat Vehagim, 2nd edn. (Wyncote, PA: Reconstructionist Press, 1995)
• “Why I Never Bawl Out a Waitress” by Harry Golden
• Psalm 8: transl. Jewish Publication Society (1985); adapted by David E. S. Stein
SHABBAT AFTERNOON PRESENTATION:
“WHAT’S A RABBI FOR?”
• Lucy S. Dawidowicz, ed., The Golden Tradition: Jewish Life and Thought in Eastern Europe (1967; 1984)
• Moses Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Lore of Sanhedrin § 4.1–3, 15
• Ismar Schorsch, “Emancipation and the Crisis of Religious Authority: The Emergence of the Modern Rabbinate,” in Werner Eugen Mosse, et al., eds., Revolution and Evolution: 1848 in German-Jewish History (1981)
• Aaron Schreiber, Jewish Law and Decision-Making: A Study Through Time (1979)
MELAVEH MALKA
• “Hevdelim” lyrics/music: R. Leila Berner
• “Barcheinu Avinu” lyrics: traditional liturgy; music: Shlomo Carlebach
• “Shalom Aleichem Waltz” lyrics: traditional liturgy; music: David Shneyer
• “Ilu Finu” lyrics: traditional liturgy; music: Miriam Margles
• “Lev Tahor” lyrics: Psalms 51:12–13; music: unknown
Passover visit (5768/2008)
SHABBAT EVENING DINNER AND DISCUSSION:
“How to Leave Egypt without a GPS: The Inner Preparation for Passover”
• “Who is ‘Pharaoh’ today?”: Imam Yahya Hendi of Georgetown University (remarks to the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association annual convention; March 26, 2008)
• Personal Prayer of Rabbi Alexandri: Talmud of Babylonia, Berakhot 17a
• Frozen Grand Central Station (by Improv Everywhere): see the video and behind-the-scenes descriptions at http://improveverywhere.com/2008/01/31/frozen-grand-central/
SHABBAT MORNING TORAH STUDY AND WORSHIP
• Topic: “Passover versus Yom Kippur: Comparison and Contrast”: based on the idea and outline by Rabbi Mark S. Diamond, Board of Rabbis of Southern California
• Topic: “The Halakhah of Greetings on Shabbat”: The following is the classic statement of the teaching to which I alluded: “One is allowed to comfort mourners on Shabbat, and likewise to visit the sick. However, on Shabbat one does not speak to the mourner or to the ill person as is done on a weekday [when it is a mitzvah to offer condolences, or to pray aloud for the ill person’s recovery]. Rather, one says: ‘Shabbat of course takes priority over petitions [of any kind]; meanwhile, I trust that healing will come soon ’” (Joseph Caro, Shulchan Arukh, Orach Chayyim § 287.1, my translation; also Yoreh De’ah § 335.6; compare Moses Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Lore of Shabbat § 24.5).
COMMUNAL PASSOVER SEDER
• “Miriam Argues for Her Place as Prophetess” (poem read aloud by Jenny Goldberg): by Chava Romm, as printed in The Torah: A Women’s Commentary (URJ Press, 2008).
• “At the Table with Others who Are Not Like Us”: Imam Yahya Hendi of Georgetown University (remarks to the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association annual convention; March 26, 2008)
• “Hope You Find the Afikomen” (song): Based on anonymous lyrics titled “Don’t Sit on the Afikomen” from jewishfreeware.org; adapted by David E. S. Stein
• “Making Meaningful Midrash”: Based on the learning game called “Mutual Storytelling,” in Playfair: Everybody’s Guide to Noncompetitive Play by Matt Weinstein and Joel Goodman (Impact Publishers, 1980); adapted by David E. S. Stein
• “Our Passover Things” (song): Based on anonymous lyrics from jewishfreeware.org; adapted by David E. S. Stein
• “Allies’ Declaration at the Seder Table” (read aloud by Father Rocky Schuster): Adapted by David E. S. Stein from Exodus 18
• “The Ballad of the Five Women (Plus Two)” (song): Based on lyrics by Burt Jacobson from jewishfreeware.org; adapted by David E. S. Stein
• “Next Year in Jerusalem”: Imam Yahya Hendi of Georgetown University (remarks to the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association annual convention; March 26, 2008)
