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IN
THIS ISSUE:
ISRAEL MOVEMENT’S PASSOVER FOOD DRIVE IN HIGH GEAR
The B’kavod Fund, a joint
social action project of the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism and
the Israel Religious Action Center, is distributing holiday food parcels
to 2,500 disadvantaged households in the days leading up to Passover.
The parcels consist of non-perishable food, such as canned goods, rice,
lentils, sugar, cooking oil and Kiddush wine. Much of the goods were
donated by members of the IMPJ’s 25 congregations; other material was
bought with cash raised during special congregational activities. The
parcels are being handed out with the assistance of local social
services. B’kavod (Hebrew for “respect” or “dignity”) distributes food
each year just before Passover and Rosh Hashana. In addition, it
provides food to non-Jews before such holidays as Christmas and Id el
Fitr. However, its aid programs also go beyond food. For example, this
winter, it distributed heaters and blankets to needy residents of Tel
Aviv and Jaffa; the recipients included Jews and Arabs, as well as the
families of foreign workers. To help support the B’kavod program,
contact the World Union’s Jerusalem office at
wupjis@wupj.org.il.
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STUDENT RABBIS TO TRAVEL TO FSU FOR 4TH CONSECUTIVE
PESACH
Fifty-three students at
the Jerusalem campus of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of
Religion will travel to the former Soviet Union next month to help lead
Passover observance for Progressive Jews throughout the FSU. The
members of the contingent – the largest ever in a joint HUC-JIR – World
Union project that provides year-round
assistance to Progressive congregations in smaller cities and towns in
the FSU – are student rabbis, cantors and educators. Many are
Americans studying in Jerusalem as part of their year in Israel. Some
of the Israeli students are Russian speakers. The students will split
up and travel to 43 communities in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, where
they will lead Passover services and seders, as well as other holiday
activities for both adults and children. They will bring copies of a
Russian-Hebrew Hagadah that was recently
published by the World Union, and which features egalitarian text and
commentary, as well as an anthology of special readings. The Pesach
segment of the FSU assistance project has its own Web site, which can be
accessed at
http://www.pesachproject.com.
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PROGRESSIVE RABBI IS THERE FOR AMERICAN VICTIMS OF
CHILEAN BUS CRASH
Rabbi Roberto Feldmann of
Congregation Yakar in Santiago, Chile, was on the scene to provide
religious direction and spiritual comfort for the victims of the recent
minibus crash that left 12 American Jewish tourists dead near Arica, on
the border with Peru. The tourists had arrived in Chile as part of a
cruise organized by B’nai B’rith. Feldmann boarded a flight to Arica
less than an hour after being asked to go there by Marcos Levy,
executive vice president of Chile's Jewish community. Once there he
spent time with the two survivors, who had lost their wives but were
themselves only moderately injured. “We talked, kept silent and prayed,
without pontificating or philosophy,” says Feldmann. “We just asked for
God's presence in the midst of the black hole.” He also provided
halachic direction at the morgue, helped coordinate moves with the
mayor of Arica, and, along with Chilean B’nai B’rith leader Ram Tapia,
conducted an impromptu press conference. “All of Arica, a town of
180,000 inhabitants, was touched by the drama. [W]e thanked [them] in
the name of the Jewish community [for their] enormous, caring help.”
Jerry Tanenbaum, chairman of Yad B’yad, the World Union’s task force on
Latin America, said Feldmann was “committed to the World Union” and to
Jews everywhere. “We should all take pride in the fact that Roberto…was
there to show Chile and the entire world the caring and compassion that
are the hallmark of our faith. It is with great pride that I am able to
call him my mentor and my friend.”
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SYDNEY AREA CONGREGATIONS REACH OUT TO GAYS AND
LESBIANS
Temple Emanuel Sydney and
Temple Emanuel Woollahra welcomed gay and lesbian worshippers last month
on the Shabbat coinciding with Sydney’s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, an
annual event begun in 1978 as both a celebration and a protest for gay
rights. At Temple Emanuel Sydney, Cantor Joseph Toltz inserted a
special message into the Geula (Redemption) prayer, calling on society
to recognize “our rightful place among families and friends, our
rightful place in our communities.” He said the Geula prayer is an
appropriate place to address the issue of gay rights: “It speaks of the
Jewish people’s liberation from Egypt to the shores of freedom. Mardi
Gras is a time where we speak out against persecution based on sexual
orientation.” Toltz was followed by Ilana Kaplin, a member of Dayenu,
Sydney’s Jewish lesbian and gay group, who read a special prayer. It
said in part: “As lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and
queer-identified people, family and friends, we are sometimes forced to
pretend to be that which we are not, to present ourselves in ways which
are not truthful, in order to feel safe in an intolerant world. But as
we stand before You, our words and our thoughts speed to One who knows
them before we utter them. We do not have to tell untruths to You as we
often feel we must do in the world. We know we do not have to lie in
Your presence.” At Temple Emanuel Woollahra, over 100 gays and lesbians
joined congregants for services and a special Shabbat dinner, at which
Rabbi Mark Solomon of London was the guest speaker. Sydney-born and
-educated, Solomon was ordained in 1991 at Jews’ College, the British
Orthodox seminary, and, after coming out, joined Britain’s Liberal
movement. He is currently a minister at London’s Liberal Jewish
Synagogue, “foster-rabbi” of the Liberal congregation in Edinburgh,
Scotland, and an “honorary rabbi” of Britain’s Jewish Gay and Lesbian
Group. He is also the editor of B’rit Ahavah – Covenant of Love:
Service of Commitment for Same-Sex Couples, which was recently
published by the Liberal movement (see WUPJnews #191).
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