Jewish Life - Des Moines, Iowa

Hiding Behind the Mask...

Last month Marc Hansen of the Des Moines Register came out and did a nice follow up story about Beth El Jacob, the Orthodox Congregation of Des Moines and Iowa.  They had been here a couple of years ago when Rabbi Schwarzbaum began attempting to bring new families to our city in the hope of growing the congregation and this was a new look at the three families who have arrived over the past sixteen months.

Since the article came out the vitriol of some people has been astonishing.  (And no, we're not linking.)  You see, the Register, and many other newspapers, allow people to hide behind a "screen name", a mask, and remain anonymous.  I've always thought that is a poor journalistic decision and written about it several times.  But...hey it gets "eyes" on the website and that...not journalism, is the important thing to the "bean counters".

My advice to my secular clients as well as Beth El Jacob is to ignore the hateful comments and rants of those who cower behind fake identities.  However, in a strange way, it's useful to review these posts to get a sense of how misguided and confused some people have become.  And, it's interesting that the more "hateful" the speech the less likely the writer wishes to be identified.  Perhaps it's because they are simply lying or they just feel the need to tip lances at a windmill.

There is so much hurt, distrust, fear and hate in our society and our faith.  Perhaps the Messiah isn't that far off after all.

See you in Shul

One more thing:  My name is Michael Libbie and you can reach me at the shul most every day....in case you really want to talk.

 

Rabbi Aaron Schwarzbaum on Chanukah

Take just a moment and consider the real meaning of Chanukah.  Here is wishing you and your family a fantastic Shabbos and a Kosher Chanukah...

 

Chanukah Party & Thoughts

Today is the Second Day of Chanukah for 5770!  Happy Chanukah to you and your family!  And, here is an invite to come to the Beth El Jacob Chanukah Party later today at 5:00PM!  We'll have live music, a latke bar, ice cream bar and activities.  And, we'll be lighting the THIRD candle.  We're planning for loads of people...so consider it?  Cost is $5 per person or $18 for a family.  And...if you want to make a pillow case....that's an extra $2!   WHAT?  Yep, all the proceeds are going to the Chai Lifeline a charity for seriously ill Jewish children from across the faith spectrum.  Join us?

A quick thought about Chanukah.  You do know that it's not the "Jewish Christmas" right?  Actually, the entire idea of giving gifts for "eight crazy nights" is mostly an American custom with little to no relationship to the holiday that celebrates a military victory...with G-d's help!

We read each day of Chanukah, "...for your people Israel you worked a great victory and salvation as this very day. Then Your children came to the Holy of Holies of Your House, cleansed Your Temple, purified the site of Your Holiness and kindled the lights in the Courtyards of Your Sanctuary; and they established these eight days of Chanukah to express thanks and praise to Your great Name."

Didn't see anything about "gifts" or "gelt" there did ya?  But...as long as we remember WHY we light the lights and we're true to the reality of the celebration...what's a gift...or eight...among friends?

See you in Shul!

The Three Leg Answer...

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about "Sleeping Jews" and a reader took issue saying that he knew all sorts of Jews who are not religious but do great things for their community and for their world.  While that may be true, as Jews...they are still missing out.

How so?  Let's look in the Torah...

This past week, in Vayishlach (Gen. 32: 25-32) we are told this very strange story about Jacob "wrestling" with "a man".  It turns out this "man" is actually an angel of evil that can not overtake Jacob because of his knowledge of Torah. 

The commentary goes on to quote the Chofetz Chaim, "The Evil Inclination doesn't mind if a Jew fasts, prays, and gives charity all day long - providing he does not study Torah!"  So, what does this have to do with my friend who thinks "repairing the world" is all that needs to be done?

Abraham represented kindness and Isaac represented service.  Both are wonderful qualities each of us should have.  But, it's like having a two-legged stool.  It won't stand without the third leg:  Torah.  It is Jacob that represents Torah and without Torah....  As the commentary goes on:

"Jewish history bears this out too tragically.  In countries where Jews invested heroically in synagogues and charities, but not in institutions of Torah study, they assimilated and nearly disappeared.  Only when they remained loyal to the legacy of Jacob did they remain strong."

See you in Shul!

 

 

Something To Truly Be Thankful For

For those of you living in the big cities this may not seem like such a big deal.  But, for those of us who live in Des Moines and daven at the Beth El Jacob, the Orthodox Congregation of Des Moines and Iowa...it is.

Today, on Thanksgiving Day Natan Nahali put on a tallit and tefillin for the first time.  His Bar Mitzvah is this Shabbos, G-d willing and then a major party for him on Sunday.  But this is NOT about the party.  Look at the photo...he takes this seriously and for him the Bar Mitzvah isn't a "graduation" event.  It's a big beginning.

So, why such a big deal?  Because Natan and his parents (Shlomo and Rachel) are some of the pioneers who have moved from the "big city" to Des Moines to help us build an Orthodox Community.  It's a big deal because he is one of the 14 children we have in our Beth El Jacob Torah Academy.  It's a big deal...because he, and his friend Moshe Bernstein (who gets his turn next year) are the future.  It's a big deal that despite the folks that are saying this can never work...it's working.

It's a big deal...and we welcome him to the minyan.  You see, that is the real big deal.  Jews are commanded to pray with a minyan (10 men) three times a day.  And now that Natan will be taking his place alongside of men five and six times his age.  It's big. 

And that, my friends, is what people moving to Des Moines come to realize.  Every Jew counts.  Every man and woman and child can have an impact on our shul and our faith.  For those who think this "old tradition" is...old.  Well, come and experience how you can make a difference by simply standing with others of your faith...and saying, "Amen".

How thankful we are on this Thanksgiving.

See you in Shul...

A Rural Thanksgiving - From Iowa

This morning, following services I was trying to explain Thanksgiving.  Maybe this will help.

Tomorrow most Americans will gather around tables for Thanksgiving.  This week has been full of shopping, cooking, cleaning and getting ready for the "big day".  We, like many of our friends, will also mark the date with as many traditions as we can.

Over the years Thanksgiving has changed from being a day set aside to be thankful for the blessings of a good harvest to simply being, "thankful".  That's not surprising because, today, there are so  many folks that have never had a farming experience.  So, I thought I'd infuse a little "rural thanks"...into Thanksgiving.

Tomorrow the kitchens and dining rooms located in the farm homes and acreages that dot this country will be wild with activity.  Folks will rise early to finish chores and then help where they can to prepare the meal.  There will be chopping, slicing, dicing, pie-baking and mixing.  The houses will smell of fresh bread, sage and pumpkin.  Even if it's cold, windows will be open and the smells and sounds will drift out to the pasture, across the fields and a mile down the road to the next home-place where the activity is just as intense.

And then, at a time agreed upon by the adults in charge, people will make their way, quietly to the place where the meal will be served.  And there they will bow their heads and offer a prayer of gratitude.  And some, looking out the window, will see the images of livestock and field stubble and they will forget the hard work, the bills and the struggle it takes to be in agriculture.  With heads bowed and a sense of pride in their hearts coming from the knowlege that they have fed thousands of others...they will quietly say, "Amen".

Thank you...thank you for what you do.

The Dinner Guest

Two weeks ago Beth El Jacob held a second "Shabbos Challenge".  It's an opportunity for people to gather at a hotel and spend a traditional Shabbos where we can learn, pray, eat and build community.  It's a great time.

Something very odd happened that weekend on Erv Shabbos.

The rabbis wife, Janice Schwarzbaum, left the dinner table to take food to the staff at the front desk. (It is her passion to make sure that when there is food or fun...everybody gets.)  As she stood there explaining to the surprised hotel staff what kugel is a man standing nearby said to the workers, "Oh, you'll like kugel.  My favorite is carrot."

Surprised at this addition to the conversation, Janice turned and asked, "You know kugel?"  The man said, "Oh yes!  But it has been many years since I've had it."  Of course the next question from Janice to The Man was, "Are you Jewish?" 

The Man shifted his gaze to look away and said, "I was.  Many years ago I converted and became a Christian.  My mother, until the day she died, never spoke to me again."

Stunned, Janice responded as only a frum Jew would, "Come and eat with us!  We're having Shabbos Dinner right upstairs with people from our synagogue and, yes, we've got more kugel."

The Man followed her to the dining room and took the only chair left, which was right across from the rabbi.  He told us he is a physician from Illinois and in Des Moines for a conference.  He was about to ask the hotel staff for directions to a restaurant where he was going to meet people for dinner when he overheard the kugel conversation.

For over two hours The Man sat, ate, listened and sang Shabbos songs with us. After we finished Grace after Meals he said goodbye but said he might return.  And, an hour later he was back listening to a divar Torah and sharing his personal story.  And we listened...

I don't know if we'll ever see The Man again but I have no doubt that this event made an impact on his life.  And, for his blessed Mother to see him at a Shabbos Table in Des Moines, Iowa....oh my.

My friends...you never know who G-d puts in your path or why.  This experience is just another in a long list of opportunities for outreach.  It is clear this experience touched our dinner guest.  The question is, will The Man respond in a deeper sense?  And the answer is, yes...he already did, each time he said, "Amen".

See you in Shul....

 

 

 

Sleeping Jews....

This past Shabbos, Rabbi Schwarzbaum in his Divar Torah spoke about 'sleeping Jews'.  He referenced a story where a former concentration camp survivor, each year, went to his rabbi in Miami asking for some solace for not waking up his brother.  You see, the Germans said that whoever was still in their bunk sleeping at assembly would be shot.  It seems this man had left his brother sleeping in the bunk because he felt "sorry for him because he was so tired".  The Germans, good to their word, came in and shot his brother dead on the spot.  Can you imagine the guilt?

This pointed tale brings us to this day.  How many Jews do we know that are sleeping?  How many Jews are not understanding their duty to G-d and each other?  Do we leave them to sleep...and perhaps die?  Or do we reach out telling about Torah and Mitzvot?  Do we wake them up to the reality of their duty?  Do we rouse them from their slumber and allow them to blossom?

Or do we allow them to sleep...

The choice is yours...

See you in shul!

 

 

A Life Of Balance...

Shabbos Toldos

Genesis 25:19 - 28:9

4 Kislev 5770 - November 21, 2009

We're told last week and again this week that life is about balance.  Last week in Parsha Chayei Sarah we are told that Eliezer, upon finding Rebecca, falls to the ground and says, "Blessed is Hashem, G-d of my master Abraham, Who has not withheld His kindness and truth from my master."  The rabbis tell us that it is important to have a balance between "kindness" and "truth".  If we are only kind then we can be prone to overlook evil.  We must balance kindness with truth.

This week we are reminded of a similar balance in the story of the birth of Jacob and Esau.  One son represented wickedness and the other righteousness. Isaac, we are told, loved Esau while Rebecca loved Jacob.  Is it surprising?  Isaac who brought the characteristic of strength to the family loved his equally strong son Esau and Rebecca took to the morally wholesome Jacob.

A contrast of personalities to be sorted out by kindness and truth.  Perceptive Rebecca realized that the spiritual well being of the world rested not on the selfishness of Esau and so for the greater good she assisted Isaac in securing the birthright.  The linage that would receive the Torah was to be built on strength of character and not brutish, selfish behavior.

Kindness, truth and strength of character lessons to be learned and attributes to be balanced.

See you in shul!

Shabbos Toldos Times:

• Mincha Friday Afternoon - 4:30PM
• Candle Lighting 4:32PM
• Shabbbos Morning Services - 9:00AM
• Mincha Shabbos - 4:15PM
• Shabbos Ends - 5:35PM
  

 

From A Hotel Room In Des Moines...

It's early Sunday morning, the final day of The Shabbos Challenge II for Des Moines, This past weekend saw 33 people gather at the Day's Inn of Walnut Creek for a true Shabbos.   From check-in on Friday afternoon we have prayed, learned, worshiped, ate, sang and played together.  It's not only the right thing to do, but it goes toward building a community. (Last night we even had a whipped cream treat...)

For Orthodox Jews living in other parts of the country leaving your home and checking into a hotel for Shabbos may sound strange.  But here it's different.  We have members of our shul that are observant and those working toward the goal.  We have members who care little for religion and others that truly "get it".  And so we meet in a location to give those who are grasping for reason the opportunity to start with observing Shabbos.  It's a wonderful adventure...  Thank you Rabbi Schwarzbaum for doing this again.  Let's start planning Shabbos Challenge III.

In other news, the Des Moines Sunday Register carried an article about the three new families who have moved to Des Moines.  Last week writer Marc Hansen visited Beth El Jacob and heard, first hand, why Orthodox families have made the choice to create community in Des Moines.  Nice job Marc and thank you...here is the story.

See you in shul...