February 2008 Shofar
From The Rabbi:
Tekiah
Shevat/Adar I 5768
February 2008
Dear Friends,
As most of you know, I am
in the habit of associating one subject or idea with another area of thought.. This month I would
like to play with some computer terms and relate them to the functioning of a
community. The are
two types of computers, PC’s and MAC’s. In a synagogue, the initials PC might
represent Participation and Communication. The initials MAC could represent Mindfulness, Action, and Cooperation. Taken
together, they describe that which forms the basis for a great community.
Let us begin with
participation. Membership in an
organization may consist of merely paying your dues. It may also be a rewarding
association with other people. In order
to receive the greatest benefit from one’s membership, one must participate in
the life of the synagogue. I am not one
who likes to pay an admission fee to an amusement park or museum and then not
partake of what the place has to offer.
Similarly, there are a large number of possible activities at Temple
Beth El of which one can avail oneself.
Communication is a vital
aspect of a smoothly running organization.
At Beth El we need to communicate clearly with each other. Two people emailed me recently but never
received a reply. In both cases they
sent the message to the wrong address.
It was by accident that I found out about the error. People have had ideas that had merit but did
not think of expressing these ideas to the community or myself. These new thoughts could be useful in the
growth of our
A third concept is
mindfulness. We should be aware of other
members of our community. Sometimes
there are families who are in distress or in need of support but may not
receive the necessary help due to lack of communication. Each month we publish this bulletin which
describes many activities; we then send out email reminders during the
month. Yet many of us do not know what
is happening in our community. Much work
and leadership are needed at Beth El, but even though we publicize this
information, few people respond to the call for help, often because they are
uninformed. Therefore, we need to be
mindful of what is happening in the community and with the members.
Fourth, we need to take
action. When we recognize that a
congregant needs our help, we need to communicate that to the temple office, a
board member, or the rabbi. When we see
an activity that might be interesting, we need to email or call the temple at
that moment, rather than putting it off and forgetting about the activity. When we hear the call for help we need to
respond. Often we think that someone
else will do the work or take on the leadership role. It is said regarding the computer, “Garbage
in, garbage out.” Regarding the
synagogue it could be said, “Nothing in, nothing
out.” There is no “they” in our
community, only “us.” If we all take a
turn at being active, no one gets worn out and all the needs are met.
The last idea is
cooperation. Although we often disagree
on both concepts and methods, we are a family.
In order to continue to maintain that cohesiveness, it is necessary to
recognize our common goals. I am
reminded of the phrase, “United we stand; divided we fall.” Underlying everything that takes place at
Temple Beth El is the fact that we are a community.
In computer language the
smallest amount of information is call a bit.
In community, everyone is asked to do a little bit. The internet has connected us to a world of
information. The synagogue can connect
us to a world of relationships, educational opportunities, and rewarding
experiences. In order to use a computer,
one needs to have a power source, press the “on”
button, let the computer boot up, and select the program we want to use. In synagogue life, we have our Source of
Power, but we still need to press our “on” buttons and engage in the programs
that are available to us.
Many of us have mastered
the computer and cell phone, but we had to take the time to learn how they
operated and practice using them. The
time spent to become involved in these devices has paid great dividends. If we spend time learning how the synagogue
functions and practice getting involved, it will also pay great dividends. As I write this interest rates are down, but
they will someday rebound. My hope is
that this message will help remind us to raise our rate of interest in the
Shalom uv’racha,
Rabbi David Kaplan