Golden Jerusalem Running to and fro Through the hustle Bustling people Scrambling Preparing For Shabbat. The people swarm-buzz like bees here- there are no lines only raised voices- -and then a kind word or nod afterwards. Makolet for vegetables and Lechem Shel Tomer for you guessed it… the yummiest bread and cheese. Delicacies for holy time.
Sun glowing orange-pink as Shabbos falls, Songs around the table, challah dripping with honey and sticky fingers Wine and new friends that become old friends.
The kotel glows amber, the white stones hugging the glow of the street lamps. And in the morning they shine brighter than the whitest light. Sparkling.
I can barely see- I am engulfed among women taking our stand at the wall. Yes, everyone is taller than me, but I feel held among these women. Singing our souls, we envelope the Torah and it us. A small revenge against patrilineal hierarchy. A beautiful Shabbos morning.
Lace up the shoes, a run through Rehavia. Yes, through a religious neighborhood in my workout uniform, I am nothing if not rebellious. And…Jerusalem is a melding pot, a blending synthesis of contradictions too many to list. The prime minister’s home approaches, and I turn back. Doors open, patio slides wide to the dusky twilight- this time of mystery and magic brings the separation ritual. And many cats. Warm spice, braided candle and light and the circle of friends as we sing once more, the hiss of Shabbos as it kisses the wine in goodbye.
Golden Jerusalem Running to and fro Through the hustle Bustling people Scrambling Preparing For the next… Shabbat.
MY ISRAEL THE STILL MIDNIGHT WAS BROKEN BY OUR LAUGHTER AND AMAZEMENT WE STAND INTO OUR HISTORY, WHITE STONE GLOWING GOLD AGAINST THE BLACKNESS. THE SCAMPERING OF STRAY CATS.
WHITE OR BLACK. GREY IS NOT A COLOR WHERE I LIVE IN JERUSALEM. CHILONI OR DATI- SECULAR OR RELIGIOUS. ISRAELI, JEW, ARAB, PALESTINIAN, CHRISTIAN, NONE OF THE ABOVE ALL OF THE ABOVE. human. THE CACOPHONY OF LANGUAGE PUSHES ME FORWARD THROUGH THE THRONG AT THE SHUK EXOTIC SPICE PERMEATES MY PALATE ON SHABBOS. EYES BORE AT MY BACK ON MY SHABBOS RUN THROUGH REHAVIA IPOD SOUND TRAILS IN MY WAKE
A SETTLER’S BATTLE HYMN, A SONG OF DEFIANCE A PEACE ACTIVIST’S PROTEST FOR THE ANCIENT OLIVE BRANCH IS A PRAYER FOR A SURVIVAL GROUNDED IN RESPECT, NATURE, AND HUMANITY.
A WOMAN SINGS AT THE WESTERN WALL. EYES CLOSED, WRAPPED IN THE FOLDS OF HER MOTHER’S SARAH, REBECCA, RACHEL, AND LEAH SHE HOLDS A TORAH CLOSE TO HER HEART.
THE EXTREMES CAN PRESS IN LIKE THICK HUMID HAIFA AIR. I BREATHE EASIER OUT OF JERUSALEM’S WALLS, YET I AM CALLED TO HER GOLDEN, HOLY OUTSTRETCHED ARMS. THEY RESONATE IN TONELESS AND VIBRANT INVITATION. SWEET SONGS THAT DRAW TETHERING TIDES TOWARD HOME.
The Book of Genesis begins with the stories of creation – first is God, Creator of the Heavens and the Earth and all that is in them. Then God creates humanity – the one who is supposed to help God perfect the world. To correct what requires correction in the world – since the world was not created perfect – it requires correction, as it is said “And the Adonai God took humanity and placed it in the Garden of Eden to work and keep it.” (Gen 2:15)
Not only to maintain what exists but also to perfect it – to work and make the necessary corrections.
To achieve this goal, humanity was granted two things of enormous importance – freedom of thought and the freedom to choose between good and evil.
Parsha B’reishit – בְּרֵאשִׁית Torah Summary:
God creates the world and everything in it in six days and rests on the seventh. (1:1-2:3)
Adam and Eve are placed in the Garden of Eden, where they eat the forbidden fruit and are subsequently exiled. (2:15-3:24)
Adam and Eve have two sons, Cain and Abel. Cain kills his brother, Abel. (4:1-24)
Adam and Eve have another child named Seth. The Torah lists the ten generations from Adam to Noah. (4:25-5:32)
God regrets having created human beings and decides to destroy everything on earth, but Noah finds favor with God. (6:5-6:8)
B’reishit – בְּרֵאשִׁית
The Book of Genesis begins with the stories of creation – first is God, Creator of the Heavens and the Earth and all that is in them. Then God creates humanity – the one who is supposed to help God perfect the world. To correct what requires correction in the world – since the world was not created perfect – it requires correction, as it is said “And the Adonai God took humanity and placed it in the Garden of Eden to work and keep it.” (Gen 2:15)
Not only to maintain what exists but also to perfect it – to work and make the necessary corrections.
To achieve this goal, humanity was granted two things of enormous importance – freedom of thought and the freedom to choose between good and evil.
B’reishit – בְּרֵאשִׁית
The question arises – why did our tradition find it appropriate to establish four holidays in a span of three weeks?!
After all, with all the joy in it, it turns out – how to say – that after the holiday season we are all quite exhausted, not to mention totally exhausted with a slight tinge of nervous breakdown…
This question, the question of the density of the four holidays of the month of Tishrei, has been occupying me for several weeks. I don’t have a comprehensive answer yet. I do know that the favorite month of all the Rabbis in the world is Cheshvan, the next Hebrew month, which is the only holiday of the year with no holiday whatsoever!
Parsha Simchat Torah – שִׂמחַת תוֹרָה Summary:
On Simchat Torah, the day on which we literally celebrate the Torah, we read the very end of Deuteronomy and the very beginning of Genesis. In the final verses of Torah, we read Moses’ blessing of the Israelites, offered before the prophet dies. Moses then ascends Mount Nebo, from which he sees the Promised Land and takes his final breath. God buries Moses and we are told there will never be another prophet like him. From this passage, we immediately begin our new cycle of Torah reading with the story of creation from the beginning of Genesis. And we create a new year of studying Torah. While each year we return to the same verses, it is we who are different. With each passing year, we grow and change, celebrate and mourn. And it is as if we are reading these sacred words for the very first time.
Have you ever scrambled through your photos (print or digital) in search of a specific shot, only to realize that, yes, it’s there – but you can’t tell exactly where it was taken because it has no identifying sign or symbol in the background? That frequently experienced frustration will be addressed by a new artwork, expected to be installed at The Temple around Passover 2024.
The artwork will be much more than a backdrop for “photo ops” of the many family and community events at The Temple. The new artwork will be an 8’ x 8’ Tree of Life metal sculpture that will live outside the building’s entrance. It will be “a Jewish symbol for our Temple, visible to all,” says Executive Director Craig Goldstein, who, inspired by the artwork outside the Knesset in Jerusalem, had the brainstorm for the piece. He shared his vision with Rabbi David, and the idea took hold.
Once the plan was green-lighted, the next step was to commission the work, and there was no question that the artist should be famed sculptor and blacksmith Craig Kaviar. Not only is Kaviar based in Louisville, but he is also a long-standing member of The Temple. His wife, Dr. Frances Weinstock, sings in Shir Chadash.
Craig Kaviar’s involvement in art began when he was young. While in high school on Long Island, he apprenticed to a sculptor, working in wood and stone carvings and fiberglass sculpture. He graduated from Tufts University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, then went on to further study at the Boston Museum School (now part of Tufts). At the Museum School, the husband of one of his teachers got him interested in blacksmithing, and during the summers, he worked as a blacksmith at Hancock Shaker Village near Pittsfield, Massachusetts. The formative influences were coming together; he also taught himself techniques by reading an English book on blacksmithing, for example.
The results are wondrous. Craig works primarily in iron, but also copper and bronze, and he is known especially for natural themes. “I see God in nature,” he says. Imagine rendering a leaf or a flower or a bird in hard metal, yet still capturing their delicate detail and natural grace. Further, he is not a practitioner of “fine art,” preferring what he calls “functional art,” where form and function literally work together.
While he creates chandeliers, tables, and other interior pieces, he is best known for major architectural installations, and his work is visible all around Louisville. A partial list includes the Holocaust Memorial at The Temple (commissioned by Brotherhood), tall bronze door handles at the entrance of the Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, the Eternal Light at Jewish Hospital, gates and grills at First Unitarian Church and Christ Church Cathedral, pool gates at the JCC, several major pieces at Brown-Forman Corporation, even repairs to the original Olmstead railings outside Brown-Forman.
Beyond Louisville, Craig created the entrance gates to the Woodford Reserve Distillery in Woodford County, and a three-part entry archway for Crab Orchard Animal Sanctuary in Oldham County. He says that commissions afford him the chance to collaborate with his clients, an approach he values. And seeing his work around town and in the vicinity provides him with a lasting connection to the community.
“Really, I just love to create,” says Craig. “The metal tells me where to go.” This passion and joy are evident in the work. But Craig takes it a few steps further: he uses some recycled metal, and powers his forge with recycled cooking oil. He helps to educate and train a new generation of blacksmiths in Louisville and beyond. And he is a dedicated participant in the “Guns to Gardens” effort, turning voluntarily surrendered gun barrels into garden tools (a whole story unto itself!).
Craig Kaviar has been featured on “Modern Masters” on HGTV, in many arts publications, in Courier Journal and New York Times stories, and was part of the U.S. Pavilion at the World’s Fair in Japan; he has also received numerous awards for his work. The Gabby Giffords Foundation has made a film about Guns to Gardens that will show at the Speed Museum this October.
It would be fair to say that Craig Kaviar lives his values, and expresses them through his works. Social justice, nature, religious and Judaic themes; all inform his functional artistry. Be on the lookout for the arrival of his Tree of Life at Temple next spring.
Have you ever scrambled through your photos (print or digital) in search of a specific shot, only to realize that, yes, it’s there – but you can’t tell exactly where it was taken because it has no identifying sign or symbol in the background? That frequently experienced frustration will be addressed by a new artwork, expected to be installed at The Temple around Passover 2024.
The artwork will be much more than a backdrop for “photo ops” of the many family and community events at The Temple. The new artwork will be an 8’ x 8’ Tree of Life metal sculpture that will live outside the building’s entrance. It will be “a Jewish symbol for our Temple, visible to all,” says Executive Director Craig Goldstein, who, inspired by the artwork outside the Knesset in Jerusalem, had the brainstorm for the piece. He shared his vision with Rabbi David, and the idea took hold.
Once the plan was green-lighted, the next step was to commission the work, and there was no question that the artist should be famed sculptor and blacksmith Craig Kaviar. Not only is Kaviar based in Louisville, but he is also a long-standing member of The Temple. His wife, Dr. Frances Weinstock, sings in Shir Chadash.
Craig Kaviar’s involvement in art began when he was young. While in high school on Long Island, he apprenticed to a sculptor, working in wood and stone carvings and fiberglass sculpture. He graduated from Tufts University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, then went on to further study at the Boston Museum School (now part of Tufts). At the Museum School, the husband of one of his teachers got him interested in blacksmithing, and during the summers, he worked as a blacksmith at Hancock Shaker Village near Pittsfield, Massachusetts. The formative influences were coming together; he also taught himself techniques by reading an English book on blacksmithing, for example.
The results are wondrous. Craig works primarily in iron, but also copper and bronze, and he is known especially for natural themes. “I see God in nature,” he says. Imagine rendering a leaf or a flower or a bird in hard metal, yet still capturing their delicate detail and natural grace. Further, he is not a practitioner of “fine art,” preferring what he calls “functional art,” where form and function literally work together.
While he creates chandeliers, tables, and other interior pieces, he is best known for major architectural installations, and his work is visible all around Louisville. A partial list includes the Holocaust Memorial at The Temple (commissioned by Brotherhood), tall bronze door handles at the entrance of the Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, the Eternal Light at Jewish Hospital, gates and grills at First Unitarian Church and Christ Church Cathedral, pool gates at the JCC, several major pieces at Brown-Forman Corporation, even repairs to the original Olmstead railings outside Brown-Forman.
Beyond Louisville, Craig created the entrance gates to the Woodford Reserve Distillery in Woodford County, and a three-part entry archway for Crab Orchard Animal Sanctuary in Oldham County. He says that commissions afford him the chance to collaborate with his clients, an approach he values. And seeing his work around town and in the vicinity provides him with a lasting connection to the community.
“Really, I just love to create,” says Craig. “The metal tells me where to go.” This passion and joy are evident in the work. But Craig takes it a few steps further: he uses some recycled metal, and powers his forge with recycled cooking oil. He helps to educate and train a new generation of blacksmiths in Louisville and beyond. And he is a dedicated participant in the “Guns to Gardens” effort, turning voluntarily surrendered gun barrels into garden tools (a whole story unto itself!).
Craig Kaviar has been featured on “Modern Masters” on HGTV, in many arts publications, in Courier Journal and New York Times stories, and was part of the U.S. Pavilion at the World’s Fair in Japan; he has also received numerous awards for his work. The Gabby Giffords Foundation has made a film about Guns to Gardens that will show at the Speed Museum this October.
It would be fair to say that Craig Kaviar lives his values, and expresses them through his works. Social justice, nature, religious and Judaic themes; all inform his functional artistry. Be on the lookout for the arrival of his Tree of Life at Temple next spring.
