Change of Blog

Hi all. Thanks so much for following me as I transition from Temple Emanu-El in Tucson to Har Sinai in Owings Mills, MD.
As you may have noticed, I have not been keeping up with this blog as much as I would like. Truth be told, I have been writing a different blog for ages with all sorts of useful materials, articles, book and movie recommendations, and guides for Jewish living.
I will continue to work on that blog as I transition and become hopefully established in Baltimore.
If you are a fan and would like to continue to follow along, just click on the following link and I will see you there:

Rhythm Guitar Rabbi

All Things Passover

I am so sorry to have not kept up with my blogging as of late. Needless to say, there has been a lot going on in Tucson. Between Purim and our Purimspiel, our 100th Anniversary Gala Celebration, and the soon to arrive festival of Passover, I have been a bit busy with things.
However I did want to update you on a few goings on in my lfe. First of all, I am proud to announce that my smart, beautiful, talented, and extremely patient wife Joy has found us a house in Owings Mills. The closing date is April 30th, and we are very excited about it. Thank you to all of you who helped during the very fast and exhausting search process.
In other news, Temple Emanu-El has hired my successor, a soon-to-be newly ordained rabbi, who I am looking forward to working with in preparations for his arrival and my departure.
I am also very much looking forward to my visit to Baltimore in mid-April where I will be meeting with a number of you about all of the tremendous activities going on at Har Sinai. And even if I am not scheduled to meet with you, feel free to stop by and say, "hello."
In the meantime, I wish all of you a great celebration of freedom. I hope you all have wonderful seders both in your homes and with the congregation. And let me be one of the first of many to wish you Chag Sameach!
Happy Passover everyone!

Purim 5770

As my tenure as associate rabbi at Temple Emanu-El in Tucson is rapidly coming to a close, I find myself spending quite a bit of time reflecting over my past accomplishments. However there is one area I continue to dwell on, namely my failed bid to become President of these United States.
I am sure it was not because of my plan to move Washington D.C. to Cancun during the winter months. Nor must it have been my proposal that all college bowl games once again be played only on New Year’s Day. Instead I blame my campaign manager, Peanut the cat, who I just discovered hijacked most of my campaign funds for the purchase of large quantities of meow mix. Who knew advertising jingles could be so effective on cats? This news sent me into a spiral of self-pity where I found myself addicted to tummy-rubs and head scratches. Oh wait, that was the cat.
Needless to say, I am now in the process of writing my memoirs on this experience. I have discovered in my notes several other proposals I should have put forth, which I am sure would have catapulted me to victory. Here they are in no particular order:
I propose all airline CEO’s be required to fly coach 300 days a year. Maybe then, they would finally understand.
I propose that if you are on hold longer than thirty seconds, the company be required to play great music like the Beatles, Stones, U2 or Alvin and the Chipmunks. And while on hold, they stop saying, “you’re business is important to us,” because clearly it isn’t. Otherwise, why would we still be on hold?
I propose your license plate number also be your cell-phone number because the light is green already!
And lastly I propose outlawing the following phrase under the penalty of having to watch American Idol reruns over and over again. That phrase is, “you know.” No I don’t know. If I did, I wouldn’t be asking. Please stop assuming I know. Sheesh.
With an agenda like this, I proud to announce I am changing the focus of my campaign. As I will be just outside the D.C. area, during the summer months when it’s not in Cancun, I am hoping to become a player in the current administration. If you are ever in the area, feel free to stop by. Just don’t fly coach; otherwise you might end up sitting next to an airline executive. But be sure to give me a shout, and I will gladly wish you a Chag Purim Sameach, you know!

My apologies for the double posting, but I wanted to make sure everyone who wanted to read this review had the opportunity:

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is a 2008 British film based on the 2006 novel of the same name by Irish author John Boyne. It is in the genre of historical fiction and stars David Thewlis (of Harry Potter fame), Vera Farmiga (most recently seen in Up in the Air), and Asa Butterfield, the young British actor hired to portray the youthful innocence of the lead 8 year-old-character Bruno.
In some ways The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is similar to Rosenstrasse, the 2003 film, which also portrays elements of the Holocaust from a German perspective. However where these two films differ is that in Rosenstrasse, the main character Lena was a German woman married to a Jewish man who was taken into custody by the Nazi authorities. Also it was based on historical events.
Where Boy in the Striped Pajamas differs is that the only historical element to it, other than the holocaust, was the possibility that a German Commander might have housed his family near a concentration camp.
The problem with the movie is that it is incredibly unlikely any German youth especially of Bruno's age would not have been involved in the Hitler youth, especially if his father was a high ranking official in the German military. We just need to look at the history of Pope Benedict XVI to understand how many German youths fell under its sway. It is equally as unlikely that Bruno would not have known about the vicious, hateful propaganda used against the Jews, especially for a child of Berlin. And it is equally unlikely a child of 8 would be alive in a concentration camp or that Bruno would have been able to do what he did towards the end of the movie.
Thus, in many ways, it is an unfortunate and unrealistic portrayal. Yet I feel there is redeeming value to the movie because it is told through the eyes of a child. It is a movie today’s children can relate to in ways they might not otherwise be able to. With the daily passing of survivors, the next best way to keep their stories alive is through cinematic portrayals. Thankfully the movie industry is getting more involved with telling these stories from a multitude of perspectives. There has been a mass of movies coming out especially during the past twenty years, especially since the critical and commercial success of Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List.
Just over the past couple of years movies have included not just the Boy in the Striped Pajamas, but also Defiance, the Reader, and the excellent PBS movie God on Trial. Not every movie about the Holocaust is great or even good. Not every movie is realistic. Yet what they do is keep the dialogue going when the voices of the eye witnesses are sadly leaving our very midst. So in this sense, it is very much worth it to keep watching. And every now and then, a great movie about such a difficult and troubling subject comes out in ways that helps us understand not just this tragedy, but also our own humanity.

Lost in Transition

Change, as science reminds us, is one of the only constants in the universe. Just as we start to feel comfortable, something changes. Because of this change is often associated with uncertainty, and as a result, we often feel anxious about change.
I am creating this blog because of the change Har Sinai is about to undergo with my arrival. I am doing this as a means to help alleviate fears and concerns, as well as to give you some insight into who I am and how I view our potential to grow together. For as many of us already know, change isn't necessarily a bad thing. What matters more is how we grow, and learn, and allow ourselves to become transformed as well.
In the upcoming weeks and months you will see blog posts covering a wide variety of topics. Some of them will overlap with my other blog: rhythmguitarrabbi.blogspot.com. Others will be ideas unique to this particular forum.
You are always welcome to add your comments and/or contact me directly as well.
Joy, Emily, Noah and I are eagerly awaiting our arrival in Owings Mills and we are very much looking forward to meeting all of you and getting to know you.
Until then, I wish you a very happy and healthy start to your New Year, and I will post again soon. Stay tuned.

In the meantime there is a fascinating Op-ed by David Brooks in the New York times I think is a very good read :
The Tel Aviv Cluster.