Rabbi Glickstein: Elu V'Elu for April 2012

She sang the words with such innocence and beauty, so pure of sound and spirit. Many of us were moved to tears. Few present understood the irony of the Hebrew words themselves and the commentary they pointedly made on the situation we had encountered.

“Al kol eileh, sh’mor na li Eli hatov

Al had’vash v’al haoketz al hamar v’hamatok

Al na taakor natua, al tishkach et hatikvah

Hashiveini v’ashuva el haaretz htovah”

Her name is Claudia. She is 13 years old. She is a Cuban Jew living with her grandmother, mother and sister in a place called Sancti Spiritus in the heartland of the Cuban state. This was Thursday, the day before she would lead the Havana congregation of Beth Sholom in Kabbalat Shabbat and the next morning be called to the Torah as Bat Mitzvah.  Our 18-member delegation of Miami Beach Beth Sholom visitors are sitting with her in the mezzanine of the Hotel Parque Central.  There is the noise and bustle of a busy tourist lobby all around us. Preparations are being made to spruce the place up for the visit of the Pope in a few short weeks. And yet, our group is mesmerized by the sweet conviction of this young woman and the tears flowing down the cheeks of her grandmother.

Sancti Spiritus for many years had one Jewish family that was willing to identify as Jewish: Claudia’s.  Her grandmother kept things alive during the “difficult years” of the 60s, 70s and 80s. Today, the synagogue is located in Claudia’s home. There are 54 Jews who have come forward and are a part of the community. Her mother, aunt and uncle have gone to Israel with Birthright and March of the Living. It was her uncle, 26 years old, who taught her to read Torah.

Because the last decade has seen the easing of pressure on those who identify with religious traditions, Claudia has been raised in a Zionist, religious environment. She sings all the verses of “Yerushalayim Shel Zahav”  in Hebrew, effortlessly.

Claudia is one of the reasons our congregation sent a mission to Cuba. We want to support those Jews who are attempting to rebuild Jewish life in Cuba today. Claudia’s Bat Mitzvah, along with the many conversions we learned about and the Sunday School with over 150 students, the Youth Groups, the Israeli Dance troupes, the Adult Study groups, and the Senior Center activities all gave us hope and a feeling of joy.

We gave Claudia a set of candlesticks for Shabbat and a new tallit. We gathered around her and held a tallit over her head to bless her.

There are no rabbis or cantors or professionally-trained Jewish educators in Cuba today. As the only rabbi she would encounter for some time, I blessed her. We sang Shehecheyanu together. We wept again with her family.  Members of our group gave her sister and mother gifts to mark the occasion.  It was a true emotional highlight and climax to our trip.

However, the Hebrew words I quoted above from the Naomi Shemer song which Claudia sang remain with me as a troubling reminder of the complexity of the Cuban Jewish situation. My head is still uncertain. My heart remains with all 550 Jewish families in present-day Cuba who are struggling to build and be rebuilt by our tradition.

“For all these

The bitter and sweet

The honey and the thorn

Guard them, O God, please, for good

Do not uproot what has been planted

Do not forget the hope

Return me and I will return to the good land.”

For all that was and will be, but most of all for Claudia and what is, “do not forget the hope… guard them, O God, please, for good.”

Rabbi Glickstein: Elu V'Elu for March 2012

What a celebration! What a joyous evening!

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Honestly, there is a big part of our souls that does not understand or comprehend the enormous outpouring you generously shared with us.

We are humbled, and most of all, grateful.

Shortly before the event, an elderly acquaintance asked Joanie how we could celebrate during the 30 days, the shloshim, after our mother’s death. We both knew it was the right thing to do. We instinctively understood that our mother would want us to go forward. My dearly loved Grams died six weeks before our wedding, 43 years ago, and she made it clear we should celebrate as if she were there. Our mother had her ticket and was ready to be here with us.

An image in a blog from Rabbi Rex Perlmeter, former rabbi of Temple Israel, crystalized for us the idea of finding joy in the midst of pain and tears.

Our mother, Harriett Shirley Glickstein, died on January 18. The Mincha Bar Mitzvah service on the Shabbat after we got up from shiva included the reading of the Song of the Sea. That portion was sung the Shabbat of February 4 by Rabbi Perlmeter’s son Nate. Nate’s Bar Mitzvah took place the Shabbat after the first yahrzeit for Rabbi Perlmeter’s son, Mitch, who died suddenly while preparing to go to high school one morning. That Bar Mitzvah was filled with tears of sadness and joy. 

Rabbi Perlmeter writes, “After the service, a friend approached me, saying, ‘I didn’t say this during the discussion, but I want you to know the image that occurred to me. The Sea was the sea of tears which have already been or might today have been shed because of Mitch. Thanks to Nate, that sea of tears parted, and he led us all through on a dry ground of joy.’ Love and faith can do that. They can part the waters of our tears and help us find our way to redemptive life and hope. Nate did that for us on the very Shabbat when we might otherwise have felt only the sadness of the first yahrzeit. He reminded us, by example, that our mandate is to choose life.”

You, our congregational family, did that for us.

You helped us choose life and joy in the midst of tears and sorrow.

You lifted us up as we observed shiva and the shloshim.

We are forever grateful to all of you: those who worked so devotedly to make this evening happen; those who came and shared the night with us; those who donated to the Keren Dorim fund in our honor and in memory of our mother; those who sent letters, e-mail messages, cards; those who came to our home during shiva; those who called and those who spoke to us everywhere and anywhere.

Edgar Guest wrote a simple, heartfelt poem that expresses our feelings at this special time. He called his words “Gratitude.”

Be grateful for the kindly friends that walk along your way;

Be grateful for the skies of blue that smile from day to day;

Be grateful for the health you own, the work you find to do,

For round about you there are those less fortunate than you.

Be grateful for the growing trees, the roses soon to bloom,

The tenderness of kindly hearts that shared your days of gloom;

Be grateful for the morning dew, the grass beneath your feet,

The soft caresses of your babes and all their laughter sweet.

Acquire the grateful habit, learn to see how blessed you are,

How much there is to gladden life, how little life to mar!

But what if rain shall fall today and you with grief are sad

Be grateful that you can recall the joys that you have had.

We are so grateful for you, our Temple Beth Sholom congregation.

Our family has been lovingly embraced by you and by our entire community.

Thank you.

Todah Rabbah.

We walked in joy on dry land because of you.

Rabbi Gary and Joanie Glickstein