I just got back from Israel two days ago and my spiritual batteries are all charged up.   Even though this was my sixth trip to Israel and the fourth annual trip in a row for interfaith couples raising Jewish children, I always look forward to my next trip.   There is something about being "home" that makes me want to keep going back.   

Against a backdrop of the setting sun over the Mediterranean, we started off our first Shabbat with a Kabbalat Shabbat service on the beach of Tel Aviv.   Although our 36 participants had not really gotten to know each other yet, joining together on the beach to sing the welcoming Shabbat songs and prayers connected everyone in a swaying circle.    The smiles on the faces and some tears of joy were the perfect way to bring in Shabbat and to draw the group together as a new community.

We went to services at a Beit Daniel, a Reform synagogue in Tel Aviv.  Although the service was all in Hebrew, the melodies of the chants were familiar.   The rabbi talked with us about the challenges of being a non-Orthodox synagogue in Israel, where government subsidies and even the salary of the rabbi are only paid to Orthodox synagogues.  Nobody ever said that the question of "Who is a Jew" in Israel was an easy question.

We continued north to Nofei Gonen, the Kibbutz at which we stayed in the upper Galilee, just below the Golan Heights.  With several bomb shelters located throughout the kibbutz, we could only imagine what it must have been like on the kibbutz prior to 1967, with Syria periodically lobbing missiles down into the kibbutz just a short distance below.   We ate meals consisting of vegetables grown on the kibbutz, along with cheese and yogurt made nearby.   We saw lush green fields and flowering orchards as far as the eye can see in the valley to the west of Nofei Gonen - I completely understand what motivates people to live up here, especially now that the Syrian guns are far away.  

One of my favorite places to draw in some spiritual energy is Tzvat, the center of Jewish mysticism since the Spanish expulsion of 1492.    I searched out and found my favorite place to eat in Tzvat - a small cafe run by Ronen, a Yemenite Jew with dark, black curling pais (traditional forelocks of hair) and a beard.     Ronen makes a type of Yemenite pizza using olive oil, tomatoes, parsley, zatar spices (hyssop) and sheep's cheese.   The pizza is more like a crepe and it tastes wonderful, along with Ronen's homemade lemonaide with spearmint.     However, the food everywhere is wonderful, fresh salads at every meal and of course felafel and schwarma (shaved turkey, lamb or chicken) in pita bread with chumus and salad - even the street food is healthy.

Of course, the center of the Abrahamic Universe is Jerusalem.   I just love this place - with a cacophony of languages and sounds, from the Muslim calls to worship, to church bells and car horns, the spiritual energy oozes out of every limestone block found in the streets, the buildings and of course, the Western Wall.   For our second Shabbat in Israel, we participated in kabbalat Shabbat at the Kotel, the Western Wall of the Temple.     Watching hundreds of chassidic Jews praying in groups is something to see.   Even a progressive Jew like me can appreciate the ferver with which ultra-Orthodox Jews sway, daven, sing and even gyrate with such passion and love for G-d.   We went to Shabbat services at the Conservative synagogue, where the rabbi is from Atlanta.  Here we felt at home since the sermon was in English and almost all the congregants are actually English speaking visitors or American ex-pats.  

Everywhere you look, you see 3,000 years of Jewish history:  King Hezekiah's water tunnel in the Old City of David, the Old City itself, and of course, the walls of the Temple, including the southern and western wall excavations.    Of course, being on top of Masada and visiting the Holocaust museum at Yad Vashem brings reality to the forefront:  the past 2,000 years of Jewish history have been painful and wrought with persecution and death.   The state of Israel was inevitable, yet in many ways rose from the ashes of post-WWII eastern Europe.  

Since we were an interfaith trip, we also visited Christian sites, such as Capernaum, the church of Gethsemane, and the church of the Holy Sepulcher.   Though the Christians on our trip were married to Jews and were either raising Jewish children or have agreed to raise Jewish children, it was heart-warmng to see them connect the stories of their youth with the sites in Jerusalem.   However, the same can be said for the Jewish participants on the trip.   Seeing the Jewish sites and all that Israel has done in the past 60-plus years rekindled Jewish souls and brought forth a lot of pride in what the Jewish people do when their backs are up against the wall - they have no choice but to survive and succeed. 

Every Jew and Christian should visit Israel at least once in their lifetime.   Their lives will be transformed and they will never be the same again.   Whether Jewish or Christian, they will never read the Bible the same way again after visiting Israel.     

Stay tuned for the 2012 trip - this one may be open to anyone who wants to go to Israel.

August 26, 2010

I recently taught the three-session "A Taste of Judasim" class and just started my next 20-week "Derech Torah" class.    In both classes, we discuss what Jews believe about G-d. Here is a summary:

1.  On the traditional end of Judaism, Orthodox and even traditional Conservative Judaism, many believe in an all powerful and all controlling G-d, where things happen or do not happen according to G-d's will.   Most of the majority Progressive Jewish movements do not necessarily believe in an all powerful or controlling G-d.

2.  Per the excerpt from page 158 of To Life, by Harold Kushner,  most Jews believe that G-d has the power to enable us to make free-will choices that manifest G-d's will for us, which is to make the world the kind of place that G-d would want it to be for everyone.     G-d's will for us is represented by the teachings, guidelines,  wisdom, ethics and stories of the Torah.   How we interpret and apply the teachings, guidelines,  wisdom, ethics and stories of the Torah is what distinguishes the more liberal movements (i.e, the Torah has a vote, but not a veto) from a more conservative approach.

3.  G-d enables us by giving us free-will choice, taking hand-off when if comes to our choices.    We can create wonderful experiences or devastating disasters by our choices - not G-d's choices.

4. Harold Kushner presents in To Life and in his entire book, When Bad Things happen to Good People, the idea that G-d also takes hands off of the Laws of Nature.   Kushner lost his son to a terrible disease and through the loss surmised that biology caused his son's illness, not G-d.      Likewise, Kushner would argue that Hurricane Katrina was caused by nature and not G-d, and the earthquake in Haiti was caused by nature and not G-d.   

After his son died, Kushner felt that G-d gave him the ability to grieve and eventually accept and heal from his son's death, to go on living and sharing his experience to others grieving the loss of loved ones.    In this way, it would be said that G-d gave us the compassion to help the people in New Orleans, southern Louisiana, and southern Mississippi  recover from their tragedy (we're still working to help them).   G-d gave us the compassion and ability to rush to Haiti and provide support, food and medical care to the survivors of the earthquake.  Likewise, our doctors, therapists and all healers help us work through what the laws of nature cause.    G-d enables us to have courage to face life's challenges and to heal from them, transforming them to life lessons and growth, almost always through the support of other people.   Kushner therefore supports the notion of man being "G-d's hands in the physical world" helping others through their losses, pain and suffering.

Mitch Cohen, MA
"There is peace with acceptance, and freedom in letting go"

What Jews believe about Heaven and Hell

A congregant recently asked me about what Jews believe about Heaven and Hell, so I replied, “the short answer is that we do not believe in Hell – life is to be lived in the here and now, with an emphasis on our self-chosen behavior – how we treat others, ourselves and the earth….further, we do believe in Heaven and don’t focus on it, because it is a given for all human beings, not just Jews…we all get there”   So, here is the longer answer….

Early Biblical tradition was that the deceased “were gathered up to their ancestors”, perhaps to a place called Sheol, which was the realm of the dead and whose existence likely was influenced by pagan tradition.    By the rabbinic period, or the time of the Talmud, tradition evolved to the soul departing at the moment of death and then going through a process of life review to assess our good deeds and our not so good deeds.   The closest Jewish belief comes to even a place resembling hell is not the fiery place of damned souls (which likely came from Hellenistic influence), is a place known as Gehenna, where the soul goes through a purification and purgation.   The rabbis taught that no soul should have to do more purification or purgation of its wrong-doings for more than one year.  I guess this most resembles what Catholics call Purgatory, and perhaps the early Church was influenced by this Jewish teaching.

Jews, being ever superstitious, believe that no matter how nasty or mean their departed loved one was in life, it should take no more than 11 months to go through Gehenna, not the full 12 months which is why most Jews have an unveiling ceremony at the cemetery after 11 months of the funeral.   After the 11 month purification and purgation process in Gehenna, the soul then ascends to Gan Eden, or Garden or Eden, or Paradise, or Heaven to be in the Presence of the Light, or G-d.     This is probably the majority Jewish belief today.   However………

The Sefer ha Zohar, or Book of Splendor, which is the main teaching of Kabbalah, or Jewish Mysticism states that, “ the dying person is blessed with a vision of the Shechinah (Feminine, formless, radiant Presence of G-d) at the time of Transition and sees relatives and companions from the World to Come.    This teaching of seeing the Light and then loved ones from the Other Side, coincidently aligns with the recorded memories of those who came back from near-death experiences – regardless of their socio-economic, religious and geographic origin  AND most of those reporting these near-death experiences are not Jewish mystics.     

Kabbalah also teaches about the purification and purgation in Gehenna followed by an ascension to a lower and then upper Gan Eden.  However, a main addition to Jewish mystical teaching is that while in Gan Eden, the soul goes before a “Mission Control”.  A soul that has completed its earth-bound mission will stay with the radiant Presence of G-d.    However, a soul that still has work to do, a soul which did not complete its previously assigned mission during its lifetime on earth will be prepared for a next incarnation.   Yes, I said next incarnation, which means that Jews believe in reincarnation, or Gilgul.    In fact, the word Gilgul, which can mean “wheel” for circles of return, was a predominant Jewish belief until that 1700s, when the Jewish rationalist philosophers thought reincarnation to be irrational.     Thanks to the re-emergence of Jewish mystical teaching during the past thirty years, more Jews are learning about reincarnation, as well as mystical spiritual practices, such as meditation.

If you are interested in reading more about what Jews believe about the afterlife, then you might consider reading, Jews Views of The Afterlife, by Simcha Paull Raphael (a difficult read, so you might focus on the summaries at the end of each chapter).  However, please avoid “The Kabbalah Center” materials – it is not Jewish teaching, but New Age teaching disguised as Kabbalah, which attracts Hollywood actors, actresses and rock stars.    Read Soul Judaism by Rabbi Wayne Dossick

Read about the Israel Encounter trip for 2008

  Israel Encounter Trip

Mar 3, 2007

What a wonderful Shabbat is was today.  My sons came home from UGA to rest, study for tests, go to see the Thrashers and to wreak havoc.   I loved it.

I have received a few e-mails from interested people who want to know what Shalom B'Harim is all about.   So, here is how I see it:

Judaism is a way of life that is based in history (how many of our holidays are tied to the Exodus from Egypt through the Wilderness wandering??), lived in the here and now (the Here After is a foregone conclusion - we ALL get there, so why worry?)  and is a function of our actions and deeds (100 commandments exist for how we conduct business and treat other people).     We are about personal responsibility and free will choice (no higher being makes us do anything - I AM RESPONSE -ABLE and I take full responsibility for my responses to desires, urges and instinct).    G-d watches us like a proud parent, almost revelling in the fact that we are completely capable of using the intelligence given to us to make a difference in the world.    G-d also sheds the first tear when we use our intelligence to pollute the planet and design ways to destroy the world.   We are all G-d's hands in the physical world, finishing the work of  Creation that G-d left undone on the first Shabbat.

Shalom B'harim is an authentically Jewish congregation for Jews throughout North Georgia and for those from Atlanta (or even NC) who need the mountains as a spiritual context, Jewish community and Jewish worship.   We are not affiliated with a Jewish movement and we use the Reform "Gates of Prayer" for Shabbat services and "Gates of Repentance" for the High Holiday services.     I like to think that our congregation is comprised of Jews from all backgrounds and movements:  Reconstructionist, Conservative, Reform, and Orthodox; therefore, we are "ReConFormaDox".    Many keep kosher and many do not.  Some are shomer shabbos (observant of the 39 definitions of prohibited "work" on Shabbat) and many are not.   We use musical instruments, such as guitar, an occasional hand-drum and shakers to enhance spirtuality during services (I choose Psalm 150 over either the prohibition of carrying on Shabbat, or mourning the destruction of the Temples) and sometimes we do not.   So, there is something Jewish for everyone.    We welcome all visitors:  Jewish, Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu, Shinto, pagan, Native American, Atheist and anyone I forgot to mention who is respectful of how we communally worship.

What we are not - messianic.     I think Jesus was a wonderful Jew, who did what many of the major and minor Prophets, from Hosea to Malachi did - he admonished his fellow Jews for turning away from Torah and assimilating into the Roman Hellenistic and pagan ways.     I've taught the Sermon on the Mount from the book of Matthew  Chapters 5 - 7 to Jews and to Christians.    While I respect everyone's "conversation' with G-d and everyone's interpretation of both Hebrew and Aramaic biblical texts (which is very challenging and depends on the context of what comes before and after particular lines of selected text), messianic Jews are people who really could be considered Christians who follow Jewish liturgy and service rubrics.   I think that is wonderful and it is not how Shalom B'Harim functions as a Jewish community.    Our liturgy and prayers are Jewish according to how Jews interpret traditional Hebrew biblical text.     There really is no argument, as interpretation of text is not an either/or thing - both sides could be argued convincingly and I choose not to argue.    Since Jews do not believe in hell and we do believe that Gan Eden b' Olam Haba (Garden of Eden [Paradise] in the World to Come) is for ALL human beings - not just Jews, fear of damnation is not our interpretation and is not an issue for us   I respect all people who do interpret text to support their beliefs in a Messiah, Prophet, Savior, hell and salvation - if it works for them.    I only ask the same respect and understanding in return.

Shavua tov (good week),

Mitch

Feb, 28, 2007

Hi all:

Shabbat shalom. Recall that Zvi Altman is the lay Spiritual Leader of Mountain Synagogue in Franklin, NC and he has co-led a Shabbat service at Shalom B'Harim. Zvi started an organization, The Teshuva Institute of Living Judaism, which is committed to learning and living Judaism from the heart. He has written a wonderful book, "Be Thou Holy". His book is a great introduction to Judaism and I highly recommend it to all. Google "Teshuvah Institute" to order the book.

I want to thank Zvi for visiting with us at services last week, sharing his thoughts and feelings about Jewish identity and continuity.     We hope he will come back again soon to sing and worship with us.

Mitch

February 15, 2007

  Israel Discovery Trip

1. Itinery

2. Trip

-----Original Message----- from the Simon Wiesenthal Center

February 6, 2007 UPDATE: YOUR ACTIVISM AT WORK IN RESPONSE TO 25,000 PETITIONS, FORMER PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER CRITICIZES WIESENTHAL CENTER ; RABBI HIER RESPONDS In reaction to your 25,000 signed petitions that were sent to former US President Jimmy Carter protesting his book, " Palestine : Peace Not Apartheid," Mr. Carter has responded. In a hand-written letter to Rabbi Marvin Hier, the Center’s dean and founder, President Carter accused the Center of "falsehood and slander." Rabbi Hier responded, in part, "Let me say, Mr. President, that I am not one who believes that Israel is infallible ... the only reason there is no peace in the Middle East is because of Islamic extremists who refuse to compromise, not because of the State of Israel.” Read the exchange of letters between President Carter and Rabbi Hier:         Use this link to forward this important message to your friends and family... We need your support to continue our work.  Please click here to support the work of the Simon Wiesenthal Center . Send inquiries to: information@wiesenthal.net Or send mail to: Simon Wiesenthal Center 1399 South Roxbury, Los Angeles , California 90035 310-553-9036 http://www.wiesenthal.com   SWC Snider Social Action Institute

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