Trip to Synagogue
This marks the third or fourth (official) Jewish service that I have attended and was most certainly the most informal of any of them. It was nice having the kids there to jump into the "Red Sea" and the music was also really nice. I think that more meaningful to me than the service itself was talking with Rabbi Ratner before the service. The concepts of seeing God as one, therefore God in all things was an important environmental concept. If you see God in all living things, you are more likely to treat the environment differently. I don't know how much of this is intellectual and how much is really put into practice and as we get further into the discussions about Judaism, I would like to ponder this more. Are the rituals so symbolic now that their original meaning is some how completely obscured by the rituals themselves? This did strike me a bit when I realised, for example, that at the Unitarian seder people seemed to be more interested in the words and meanings and following what it all was about than at the Jewish seder. Is it possible that when we do rituals for a long time we forget what they are there for and just do them because, well we have always done them. Is that how something gets the capitol letter?
Trip to Synagogue part 2
I returned to the Synagogue the next Friday so that I could pass out some surveys for a class that I am taking with Martha Knight, research methods, and we all promtly got lost. Somehow we made it to Beth Isreal instead and finally made it to Beth Ha-Taphila. We snuck in and Rabbi Ratner waved at us. The service was much the same as before, but totally different. No kids or Billy Jonas, but many of the same songs. After the service, we were fed again. I was interested to note that some of the people that were reluctant to go downstairs after the service and seemed like they would have much rather bolted out ended up having to be practically dragged out later! I think that giving us the left over food also made some of our little group very happy as well (note tha t I didn't seem to get any when we got back). Some of our group had slammed thier wine right away and were a bit embarresed when everyone was holding the cups up for the blessing. They saw one of the members whisper something in my ear and where sure it was about them. When they told me this later, I told them that he had actually told me that the wine was so bad so as to help them remember suffering! The service that we went to actually had more passages in it that directly pertained to the environment. Darned if I can remember the exact wording, but it had to do with taking careof the earth.
A letter to the members of Beth Ha-Taphila:
To the Faith Community at Beth Ha-Tephila Congregation:
I would like to write and thank Rabbi Ratner and everyone there for showing so much hospitality and also a special thank you for the people that helped with the survey I was doing. (Spelling errors and all- the result of bad typing skills and over replying on "spell check"!)
Our religion professor, Jeanne Matthews, believes that we
should not "study" a religion as much as we should experience it.
In a discussion in class about our visits to various religious communities,
many people expressed that the experience at Beth Ha-Tephila was the one
in which we felt the most genuine feeling of warmth and hospitality. I think
that everyone that went felt very welcomed indeed, which was greatly appreciated.
I think that most people also really appreciated the time Rabbi Ratner spent
with us giving some insight into Jewish thought concerning environmental
issues, which is the focus of the class- religion and ecology.
I am also personally grateful for allowing being allowed to join with your
community for the Seder meal and especially thankful for the people that
helped me by completing the admittedly long survey that I had formulated
for another class. As the surveys come back to me, I become more thankful
that I chose to do a survey of this type, which is structured less to prove
some hypothesis as it is to gain insight into some faith questions. Reading
and studying the results has been a great learning experience for me. It
has given me not only "data" in which to complete my study, but
also several new insights into Jewish faith that could not be understood
by lectures or classes. I particularly took note of the fact that although
there seemed to many diverse attitudes toward several of the questions asked,
a common theme rang through each of them. All of the surveys that I have
received (thus far) have showed a strong belief in justice and equality.
I knew from the services that I have attended that these issues were ones
that are talked about, but the surveys told me that these ideas of justice,
equality and compassion where more than just words that are spoken of on
Sabbat and then set aside. My own Southern Baptist upbringing showed me
that the words that are spoken as religious truths (love thy neighbor, etc.)
could be quickly forgotten. The passion in which those who sent surveys
back, the concern for the Russian family that is moving to the area, the
warmth in which a bunch of weird Warren Wilson students where received, being
welcomed at the Seder; all these things showed me that at least for this
Congregation, the words spoken in services are put into practice in your
lives.
I thank you again for giving me this opportunity to learn.
Response to Fr Roy
Meeting Fr. Roy and spending time with him was a great pleasure and I am so glad that I had this opportunity. The experience is one that I will cherish.
Andy and I met him at the airport, and even though we had never met in person, he greeted us as though we where old friends. He is a very easy person to talk to, he makes you feel very comfortable and at ease. He marveled at the beauty of the campus and of the Asheville area and seemed to really fully appreciate the beauty around him. This is something that I sometimes take for granted. (Yes, yes, yes... clouds and trees and mountain vistas, all regular stuff...) We had a chance to talk for a while in St. Clair where he was staying about some of the progress that we have made and the new bill that is in Congress right now. His life is an incredible one, and I think it is all the more remarkable in that he is such a "down to earth" person. He related to us in private and to the interfaith group how he had many personal struggles in life. Struggles with family, with his own anger, despair in prison. It is remarkable that he has found inspiration within himself to keep going. It was so interesting to hear of his life journey and how it has shaped him into the prophet he has become, and I do believe that he is a prophet in the old sense of the word- one who has come to be called to speak out against injustice in the world. And like those prophets of old, he seems to have been called to do this work. His experiences in Vietnam and later in Bolivia shaped his life in remarkable ways. Many people have seen injustice. Many others have gone to the places he has gone. He, however, could not see these injustices and just remain silent. He became angry and wanted to do something about it. Like the prophets of old, he has paid a price for speaking out. I wonder if I could stand having to go to prison for what I believe. Another way that I find him remarkable is the way he has been able to not only use his anger to drive him to work for justice, but has also gone beyond this stage of being an "outlaw". Andy and I where speaking of faith stages on the way to the airport, and he was telling me of one model in which one moved from immature level of moral development in childhood to a "rebel" stage, then a conformity stage (being a good citizen) to a "outlaw" that worked for justice. But one can get stuck in this phase and can become very angry, paranoid or bitter about the world. Beyond this stage is one in which you can see beauty in things and have a sense of peace about you. I feel that I am very much stuck in the "outlaw" phase and find it very easy to see the things that are wrong around me. Roy told us that when with the poor in Bolivia he took note of the fact that the people found it very important to celebrate, and he learned from that experience. They told him that they could take away their land, their livelyhood, but they could not take away their joy. Roy radiates this joy in living and it seems to have given him a calm peace. He talks of closing the School of Americas and knows in his heart that this will happen. He knows that it may not be this year, but it will happen. He knows that even after the school is closed that much more work needs to be done, that this is just the beginning. He knows that it is not as important that they succeed as it is to do the work. I think of the leaders in the Women's Suffrage Movement that struggled their entire lives to work for justice and never lived to ever vote themselves. But they had laid the ground work so that others could follow and see the dream become reality. The work they started so long ago is not finished, may never be finished. Maybe working for justice is a job that will never be finished. Perhaps human nature being what it is we will never live in a completely just world. But we must continue to struggle and go on and use our voices. We will probably always need prophets. I give thanks that we have them here now among us and that I have had the opportunity to learn from one.