Volume 3 | Issue 7

From Rabbi's Desk

Dear friends

As I sit at my desk, we are in the communal process of counting the Omer. As Jews our lives are bound and threaded on Jewish time. Sometimes we are more and sometimes less aware of the spiritual structure that supports our lives. In the late summer we count the thirty days of Elul, bringing us to our days of awe. Weekly we yearn, if not literally, at least metaphorically for the seventh day as shabbat assures a modicum of quietude, and Shalame (wholeness) a chance to focus on the divine. In this season it is the forty-nine days between Passover and Shavuot, we are commanded to count the Omer.  

In these days of counting we are invited to imagine what it might mean to travel from the moment of liberation from Egypt to the moment of receiving the Torah at Sinai. There are two concepts of freedom in Jewish thought.  Freedom from limitation, from enslavement not to be controlled by another and a positive freedom, a freedom to, which is engraved upon our hearts. The latter linked to the covenant and an understanding of what it might mean to live as a human being, accepting of the law. Living a life committed to Torah and mitzvoth. A freedom to build a world that is just and righteous.  

Thinking about the transition from our joyous celebration of our liberation, recounted at the Passover seder, and wow what a seder it was. We celebrated, we laughed and we taught our children what God did for each of us when we were taken out of Sinai. Huge gratitude for all that made it possible. Now in our time of counting we are in the process of preparing ourselves to receive anew the Torah of our hearts.  

When we come together for Shavuot, we will bless our first fruits, the newest babies in our congregation. We will stand as one community as we hear the words of the ten commandments, aware that we have been liberated and blessed to have the freedom to work towards a world that protects the stranger and feeds the hungry. A world that finds gratitude and joy as a foci of our lives.   

In June, I will re- commit to the brit that I have sworn to this congregation and to God. I feel blessed to be a partner with all of you in this sacred work. I pray that the wonder and the beauty that has been created and the sacred partnership that we enjoy will be one which sustains us as we move forward toward our own sense of finding the divine.  

Although we still have snow in Woodstock, there are snowdrops peeking up in our garden this week. May these intrepid sprouts remind us help us to find renewal in each breath and each new glancing of the unfolding of creation in your midst.  

With love and hope,

Rabbi Ilene Harkavy Haigh

From the Hebrew School Director's Desk

During my undergraduate years at The University of Vermont, I enrolled in a Philosophy 101  course. This class shifted my youthful way of thinking, and even now - some 30 + years later, I can distinctly recall some of the “highlight reels.”  One such lecture focused on the medieval fascination with unearthing the Adamic Language, the purported language of Adam in the Garden of Eden. This language, the professor contended, was akin to science (physics, biology, and chemistry rolled into one) - and medieval ‘scientists’ aka alchemists were obsessed with discovering it since they believed that within the Adamic Language hid the key to life. 

The belief was that pre-fall, Adam had the power to literally create life with his words; when he was tasked with naming all of the animals, the name he assigned to each species was the actual genetic signature – the life-force – for that animal. Post fall and the Tower of Babel, humans lost the Adamic Language, and they were forced to communicate by using words that were associated with a particular object or being, but the ability to ‘name’ something as it actually was at a molecular level was lost.  As a middle-aged writer, editor, and teacher, it is not surprising that a story surrounding the power of language caught my attention.

More recently, as I was curating social media content for Passover, I came across a trend where people host magic shows at their Seder tables.  To keep the children entertained, the Seder Leader turns water glasses red, launches pretend frogs across the table, and releases hail from the ceiling.  As I researched this trend, I found that the actual words that we connect with magic: Abra Kadabra, have their etymological roots in Hebrew; it means “I will create reality as I speak.”  Naturally, this brought my mind back to my college professor’s lesson on the Adamic Language, and the connection between language and reality. 

And while I do not spend my days searching for the lost language of Adam, I most certainly spend a large portion of my time thinking about language and the power that language has to create and to destroy.  Within the week that I learned what Abra Kadabra meant, I had the incredible opportunity to visit our local high school to chat with the students about antisemitism and the Holocaust.  During my time there, one of the students shared that he had been waiting in line at a grocery store and he was called a “kike.” This teenager also explained that while he knew the word was a slur, those around him only shrugged in confusion. They did not understand what the word meant. They did not comprehend the ability that word had to create - an unsafe space, hurt feelings, low self-esteem.  

It was heartbreaking to hear that anyone - never mind a child - was subjected to the insidious power of a single unkind word.  That young man has turned that word around in his head every day; he has had time to ponder how that ugly word has the power to define and discriminate against him. Words have power.  No matter how many  ‘abra kadabras’ we spin with our magic wand, the damage is done.  We can’t ‘unhear’ a hateful word.  



But words can also create.  This month, our Gesher class and our teens are privileged to have the extraordinary opportunity to hear from two survivors of the Shoah.  In honor of Yom Hashoah, they will join other upper elementary students at JCOGS to listen to Marion Blumenthal Lazan, author of Four Perfect Pebbles, and our teens will attend Shir Shalom’s Gravitz Memorial Lecture where Betty Lauer, author of Hiding in Plain Sight will share her experience. It is my sincerest hope that hearing these survivors’ words will catalyze positive change: that words of sorrow will have the power to beget actions of hope.  Because we cannot, we will not - as Jews and as humans - go back into the shadows.

May your Spring be filled with peace and joy.  May the words that cross your lips and enter your ears fill your souls with kindness.  May we all have the power to create goodness and love with our language.

L’Shalom,

Leah Gawel

Echoes & Reflection Workshop

Vermont Holocaust Memorial hosted their 4^th Educators’ Professional Development Workshop on March 21, 2023, at Shir Shalom. Congresswoman Becca Balint joined from D.C. via Zoom to welcome the teachers and emphasize the importance of helping students engage with those different from themselves, make good choices, and block hate through everyday positive interactions. Speaker, Erland Zygmuntowicz, from Echoes and Reflections, made the day extremely engaging for the 20+ educators in attendance. The theme, “Choices Matter: Complicity and Action During the Holocaust,” was brought to life through hands-on exercises and lively discussion. Shir Shalom’s Art Skerker graciously educated the educators on the background and significance of our Holocaust Torah

The Cost of Saluting Ignorance

by Vera Windish

The sharp sound of coins hitting the cold, metal floor of the bus

Pennies on the ground

“Pick them up Stupid Jew”

I feel myself shrink back, drowning in a sea of laughter

A cacophony of laughter, a sweat breaks out on my forehead

I look up

A hand stuck in the air

What is it doing? 

Saluting, Nazi style

Saluting what?

Saluting ignorance

Fear

Why am I afraid to walk down the school hallway?

Ignorance

Why should I be?

I shouldn’t

“Vera look over here”

A swastika sticks harshly out against the bus window

                                                                                                                         Out of place

The laughter consumes my being, holding me hostage, again

And you ask, why is it important for students to learn about the Holocaust?

I’ll tell you why

Years spent in fear

Countless days spent sick to my stomach, violently anxious to go to school

“What even is the Holocaust?”

My mouth gapes open

My eyes shine on my friend with loving concern

And still you ask, why is it important for students to learn about the Holocaust?

Why must you ask

When some students don’t even know what it is?

Expressions

They change 

Minds

They change

But when?

When that one offensive joke is one too many?

When they realize what they’re saying?

When they put a face to a place?

When they find some humanity?

And still you ask

Well I’m here to tell you

We need to instill our children with some humanity

Smug smirks turn to looks of pure guilt

And they should

At least the Holocaust unit inspires my classmates to stop

Stop harassing me

Stop and think

At least the Holocaust unit inspires me to fight for change

To instill my peers with humanity

To get school policy changed

I hope you’re done asking

Listen 

I hope you start teaching

Yahrzeit

Alphonse Maschio

Janice Drewing

Judy Intraub

Len Borzekowski

Marilyn Danger

Florence Esformes

Samuel Gravitz

Hilda Kirshner

Rose Klapper

Carmen Lastique

Gerson Leber

Susan Rabinowitz Malloy

Harvey Miner

Norma Osit

Irving Post

Manny Leon Roseman

Walter Shockley

Madeleine Siebeck

Noah Siebeck-Smith

Robert Stanton

Max Steinberg

John Stewart

June Marie Vonada

Irving Wayler

Laura R. Weller

Pat Zack

Betty Elaine Zaitz

Mitchell Lee Zimble

Todah Rabah

For all the gifts of the heart that have been given between March 10, 2023 - April 13, 2023. We could not have done it without you!

Click for list

Coming Up

Sat. Apr 15 @ 10:30 AM

Shabbat Morning Minyan

Wed. Apr 19 @ 8:30 AM

Virtual Minyan on Zoom

Wed. Apr 19 @ 4:30 PM

Yom Hashoah Zoom Program with a Holocaust Survivor

Thur. Apr 20

Rabbi Learning Series:

Torah Study @ 10:00 AM

Hebrew I @ 12:15 PM

Hebrew II Study @ 11:00 AM

Fri. Apr 21 @ 6:00 PM

Musical Celebration before Shabbat Worship

Fri. Apr 21 @ 7:00 PM

Shabbat Worship with Rabbi Haigh

Sat. Apr 22 @ 9:30 AM

Mini Minyan (Tot Shabbat)

Sat. Apr 22 @ 10:30 AM

Saturday Morning Family Learner's Shabbat Worship B'nai Mitzvah Cohort 'passing of the torch' with Rabbi Haigh

Sun. Apr 23 @ 9:00 AM

Shul Clean Up

Sun. Apr 23 @ 10:00 AM

Hebrew School

Sun. Apr 23 @ 11:00 AM

Teen-led Lag B’Omer & Shabbat Service Planning with Rabbi Haigh

Sun. Apr 23 @ 1:00 PM

Sidney Gravitz Memorial Holocaust Lecture

Mon. Apr 24 @ 4:00 PM

Book Club

Wed. Apr 26 @ 8:30 AM

Virtual Minyan on Zoom

Wed. Apr 26 @ 7:00 PM

Adult Education - Jewish Art During The Weimar Republic

Fri. May 5 @ 5:30 PM

Potluck Shabbat

Fri. May 5 @ 6:30 PM

Teen Led Lag B’Omer & Shabbat Service

In a meeting with the Union for Reform Judaism, ARZA, The Israel Religious Action Center, ARZENU, and The Israel Movement for Reform Judaism - There was a call to action in support of Israel and Democracy. We support Israel and stand for Democracy and the rights of all of Israel's people.

The call to act is upon us.

Important Information

Calling all parents of SENIORS in high school:

We are planning our end-of-the-year 'Class of '23 Send Off' to honor this milestone. If you have a senior, please reach out to: 

leah.gawel@shirshalomvt.org

Zoom Meeting

This will be used for Rabbi's teaching including Torah Study, Hebrew I and II, Adult Education, Wednesday and Saturday Minyans, Social Groups, etc.

https://zoom.us/j/7259482096

Meeting ID: 725 948 2096

Password: 856328

Zoom Room

This will be used for larger group events such as the 1st and 3rd Friday Night Shabbat Services, B'nei Mitzvahs, and Events

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2199028045

Meeting ID: 219 902 8045

Passcode: Dg8WLC