Click HERE to watch a video of the invocation.

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Lost in the tremendously emotionally charged moments that we experienced in the past hours is the little known fact that over the last sixty three years of its young history, Israel has freed 13,509 prisoners in order to win the release of a total of 16 soldiers. An average of well over 800 for each one. Seeing Gilad Shalit walk out of that hell, seeing him smile and embrace his parents is worth EVERYTHING… It says it all. We can’t allow the number of terrorists that we hold in jail dictate the nature of the destiny of our people!

Gilad Shalit’s safe return does not make The World or Israel more or less dangerous but it certainly makes The World more human and Israel even more relevant. Why? We just showed the entire world, including the enemies around us that we are indeed different! The story is not about the terrorists, the story is not about vicious criminals being set free. The story is about not letting hate and vengeance take the best within us. The story is about the optimism, vision and love for life of The Jewish People.

Join me in reciting this beautiful prayer (below) composed by The Masorti (Conservative) Movement in Israel on the occasion of the release of Gilad Shalit.  This Simchat Torah we will be thanking God for the safe return of one of our children to the midst of his family and his people. We will be thanking God for the opportunity granted to him and to us, to begin again…

Let our voices join together as we let the world know that for us, as Jews, life is the most important thing we have, it is a gift from God and we don’t ever take it for granted.

Wishing everyone a meaningful end of Sukkot. Moadim L’Simchah;

Rabbi Felipe Goodman

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Sukkot more than any other Holy Day rings with it the eternal optimism of The Jewish People and it coexists in our calendar with Passover which consists of remembering the experience of slavery.  Only by bringing together past and future can we understand who we are today.

So many symbols in this beautiful Holy Day, and I just see more opportunities to talk about balance. The lulav (palm branch) is like our spine and The Etrog (citron) is like our heart… When we bring these two species of plants together we are reminded of the balance that we ourselves must strike in life. We need to stand on principle and be upright and stand strong for what is right and what we believe in, however, we can’t do that without a heart. Life is not all about standing strong, strength means nothing if we don’t allow ourselves to feel. Real strength comes from the balance that our heart strikes with our principles!

During this Sukkot 5722 we eagerly await the return of Gilad Shalit to Israel, we are taken by joy and at the same time we also must think about how difficult the decision must have been to make.  Exchanging 1027 terrorists to return one of our children… This is precisely the balance that I speak about when I think about The Lulav and The Etrog coming together in our hands.

Hag Sukkot Sameach…

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Elul, the sixth month of the Hebrew Calendar brings with it a special understanding of what it is God wants from us not only in the days ahead as we prepare for Rosh Hashanah but also in our lives as a whole.  Yes, life is indeed about choices and the process of Teshuva, of returning to God is entirely about understanding what it means to be able to choose freely.  We have the God given ability to make choices.  We also should remember that with that ability comes the responsibility of understanding the consequences of our choices.  It is almost impossible to understand that all choices have consequences!  There are things we do today which will probably have no effect on our lives but that will affect our children and grandchildren generations later, in fact the privilege of being able to choose comes with the added burden of a very pronounced historical myopic vision.  Yes, instant gratification prevents us constantly from choosing wisely and it also clouds our vision so it prevents us from adequately gauging the consequences that our choices may bring in the distant future.

As we approach Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur it is my prayer that we all understand how important it is to focus not on what happens instantly in our lives but in the long reaching effect that our actions may have.  The understanding of God throughout history as a Supernatural God contributes to this myopic effect.  If we don’t see God reacting to our bad choices with thunder and lightning we believe that there is no real consequence.  God, the understanding of God, the love that we feel for God and the love God feels for us is not about action and reaction!  If we believe that God is actually a glorified puppet master, then yes, of course we could expect for God to pull the line every time we disappoint.  Truth is, for the most part it doesn’t work like that.

So, what are the choices that we should be making in this New Year that is about to begin?  I think one of the most important ones is to finally decide that Judaism and The Jewish People are central to our lives.  Mitzvot, acts of loving kindness and observance of our tradition should not take the back seat to things that for now seem to be exactly what we need but that will not support our spirit in the years ahead.  Let me give you an example of how as a congregation we are making better choices.  This year we had over thirty; yes over thirty children from our congregation attend Camp Ramah.  It is a daunting and overwhelming statistic!  It doesn’t seem to be a large number but when you compare it to the numbers in the last ten years you immediately see the difference.  The fact that we choose Camp Ramah over so many hundreds of different activities for our children, points to us understanding the long reaching consequences of our choices.  What will this do for us in the future?  It will leave us with an entire generation of Jewish children for whom Judaism is not something counter intuitive but a central part of who they are.  We will see our children grow up knowing that The Synagogue and Jewish Life are not a theme park but an expression of the dreams, hope and faith that have sustained us throughout time.

This Rosh Hashanah may God bless all of us with the power to engage in Teshuva, the kind of returning to God that is not only about form but also about content.  May the voice of the Shofar wake us up so that we can understand the consequences of our actions.  May we be conscious of what where our lives are headed so that we can change course and adjust our long range vision.

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I am writing this brief thought at the end of Memorial Day.  Truth be told, I believe that Memorial Day is one of the most important days in our calendar.  As American Jews we are no strangers to the sacrifice of those who gave their lives so that we can enjoy the blessings of freedom, liberty and justice.  I waited until the end of the day to write this message because I wanted to make sure that the images; the stories, the tears and the pride were fresh in my mind and in my heart.

The ideals that America stands for and represents are part of the ideals that we as Jews have treasured for thousands of years.  We understand what living in peace and prosperity means but we also understand that sometimes, before there can be peace the world needs to be returned to its proper balance.  One of the reasons why Memorial Day is so compelling to me is because those who sacrificed their lives throughout the confines of space and time, in distant shores and close to home, did it so that our children wouldn’t have to sacrifice theirs.

The stories of our heroes are powerful, not because they are extraordinary but because they represent the narrative of the lives of common people turned giants!  One of the members of our congregation; Sam Showel, who prays with us almost every day in our Minyan has such a story.  Sam saw action during WWII in Iwo Jima.  He has told me many times what he remembers.  He remembers the black volcanic ash spread over the island like a cloud of darkness.  He remembers the heroism of his fallen comrades.  With a sense of powerful and honest modesty that comes from the experience of battle, he refuses to admit he had anything to do with our nation’s triumph.  ”It was not me, it was those who were with me…” For how many years history and other nations and empires denied us the opportunity of being counted as equals!  Not so in America!  Here we have sacrificed together, we have strengthened each other and we have built the dreams of freedom together!

As night falls and Memorial Day departs, let us take if at all a brief instant and thank from the bottom of our heart all those who gave their lives, all those who lost their loved ones so that we can enjoy the blessing of being born free.  Think of how many generations of Jews were not able to be free and think of The American Experience!  Let us give thanks to God for instilling courage, bravery and determination in the hearts of the men and women who have given us what we have today!

Rabbi Felipe Goodman

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Senator Reid’s speech was a landmark speech that clearly evidenced the strong relation and unbreakable bond that exists between Israel and The United States.

I urge you to take the time to watch or read this important speech by one of our own US Senators.  Besides Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Speech and President Obama’s Speech.  Senator Reid’s speech had the most important content of anything we heard at the beginning of the week in our Nation’s Capital.

Please click HERE to access a video of the speech or to read the entire transcript.

To view or access the speech from your smartphone, please scan the QR code.

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Last Thursday and Friday, May 19 and 20, 2011 will turn out to be days where history for The Jewish People was made. I decided not to immediately react to President Obama’s speech on his vision for peace in The Middle East. Why? Well, for one I am sure that just like me you received tens of emails with varied statements embracing different views and interpretations on what was said by The President. Everyone, and I do mean everyone decided to be the first to react and share his or her thoughts with the world in what seemed to be a competition to see who could get a statement out quicker. I was reminded of Jackie Mason’s famous line: “In time like these, every… becomes a philosopher!”

I will waste no time or ink in dwelling on what everyone has already said, rather, I would like to share with you my thoughts on the genesis of the situation we are facing. I am not at all surprised in The President’s decision to completely reverse and disregard previous American Foreign Policy regarding Israel. Do you remember President Obama’s Cairo speech? In his Cairo Speech, the President shared his vision with The Arab World on why Israel needs to exist and in doing so he perpetuated one of the greatest myths and injustices of history. He articulated the need for Israel to exist based on the suffering of The Jewish People and our persecution in Europe. He mentioned The Holocaust as a turning point in history and in doing so he gave The Arab World exactly what they have always wanted, a partner in delegitimizing Israel!

For years The Arab World has preached to anyone who would listen that Israel is a direct result of The Shoah and that all of those “Jewish Refugees” need to be sent back to Europe to the countries that expelled them from their midst. Never, not once during his Cairo Speech did The President share with The Arab World that Israel represents the right to self determination of The Jewish People, never, not once did he mention that throughout time, even in the darkest hours there has been a considerable Jewish Presence in The Land of Israel. Never, not once did he mention the multiple times Jewish residents of what was called Palestine were massacred by the hundreds by Arabs during the nineteen twenties and thirties.

Last Thursday’s speech by President Obama should not be shocking to us, it is simply reiterating what we already knew… The President simply does not understand Israel, The Jewish People or our history. Exactly a year ago I was sitting in The Roosevelt room, in The West Wing of The Whitehouse together with fifteen other American Rabbis from throughout The Land. Many of our questions were answered, but the most important still remains; Why does This President believe that resolving The Israeli – Palestinian conflict will solve the rest of the problems in that region? This obsession is bound to cost not only political capital but eventually the life of many of our children.

Tomorrow Morning ten thousand pro-Israel activists will gather at The Annual AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington D.C. I will be among those ten thousand, and together with over fifty members of our congregation we will once again listen to the words of President Obama. In my mind, he has said everything that needs to be said. Prime Minister Netanyahu will be addressing us on Monday Night. I Have never felt more pride than this past Friday when The Prime Minister of Israel stood up for our People. He stood up to the Leader of The Free World, not in defiance but to teach him a lesson in courage and freedom.

The Chinese have a very interesting saying that in some circles is interpreted as a curse; “May you live in interesting times!” We are indeed living in interesting times but it is absolutely up to us to determine an outcome that is fair and just for our People. We all want peace; nothing is more precious to us than peace. We pray for peace every day three times a day, our children sing about it and we dream about what it can bring. To make peace we need partners, to make peace we need to understand that it can’t simply be imposed on us when it is not secure or just! Israel is a free, democratic and sovereign country and as such is capable of deciding for herself what should be and is in Israel’s best interest.

In the months ahead each one of us will be tested. Our determination will be tested, our courage under affliction will be tested and our devotion to the ideals of The Jewish People will be tested. It is my prayer that we live up to our potential, It is my prayer that we choose not to remain silent and that we don’t become victims to the sin of indifference. We need each other now more than ever, Israel needs our voices now more than ever and we need to show our children and ourselves that this defining moment for our generation will not pass us by. It is with the understanding of what is at stake that we must choose not to become merely spectators.

Shavua Tov from Washington DC

Rabbi Felipe Goodman

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At the end of Nisan and beginning of Iyar we remember who we are, we weep as we collectively revisit the dark moments of history and rejoice in the promise and reality of what Israel represents both physically and spiritually.  All in about ten days.

But why am I writing about El Al?  Aren’t there many much more urgent and pressing issues when it comes to Israel today? Yes, but this time I would like to point out the obvious.  This time I would like to open our eyes to the simple things that we so often notice, but so often take for granted. Has it ever happen to you that you find yourself in a far away land and suddenly as you land in a foreign airport as you see all of the airliners together in the tarmac you suddenly spot an El Al plane?  Right at that very moment you feel proud!  I know, not a lot of people talk about this and it seems almost trivial but in all honesty, it always happens to me.  Somehow, the idea that Israel has its own national carrier translates into one of the ultimate symbols of self-determination.  For hundreds of years we were constrained to specific areas of residency in many countries.  For decades even during the twentieth century we were not able to freely travel wherever we wanted to go.  It seems to belong in the distant past but if you think about it carefully it was not so long ago when we weren’t free to move about the world.

Israel always makes me proud but when I think of what we have accomplished in such a short time I always pause and think that it is truly the embodiment of what it was meant to represent.  More than a country, more than land, more than a national home it is the vivid representation of our right to self-determination as a People.  I am not on El Al’s payroll, that’s for sure.  You have to watch this commercial because I am sure it will have the same effect on you that it had on me.  It is not about the perks or the first class service or the super fancy lay down flat seats.  It is for sure not about their stellar service. It is not about frequent flyer mile redemption either.  It is about our history, who we are, where we are going and believe it or not, what it means to be able to do something as simple and so apparently trivial as flying our own planes.

I wish for all of us a joyous Yom Hatzmaut celebration and a renewed feeling of strong support and unconditional love for our unique, imperfect and absolutely not to ever be taken for granted ISRAEL.

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Here comes my second confession; that very same day, I woke up at 5:30 AM and started reading my email.  I stumbled upon my daily New York Times News email and of course the first headline was about the Royal Wedding.  Sparked by curiosity I found myself sailing the sea of the Internet onto a page where I could watch a freshly archived streamed video of the highlights of this “important event.”  After watching Prince William and Prince Harry walk into Westminster Abbey, I must admit, tears were filling my eyes!  How can this be, what changed?  I suddenly remembered that picture that most of us remember from fourteen years ago of two youngsters walking behind their mother’s coffin.  I remember thinking back then; So many children loose their parents, what makes them so special?

That morning, watching the Royal Wedding, I answered my own question.  It doesn’t matter who you are… From the richest of the rich to the poorest of the poor, all of us human beings experience both sadness and joy during our lifetime.  We all, no doubt will experience pain at some point or another and all of us are also entitled to experience moments of outmost joy!  All of these remind us that no one, no one is exempt from anything, and in a very unique way we are all connected by our vulnerability.

I remember looking at the video next in the line of archived videos.  A Tornado, unlike anything I had ever seen before completely obliterated entire pieces of The State of Alabama.  Just minutes before I was watching The Royal Wedding, now I was watching the beaten up survivors of this catastrophe scavenge through the ruins to find reminders of what their life was like.  No, it wasn’t Haiti, Guatemala, Japan, Indonesia or some far away land.  This happened right here in our backyard in our own country.  Ironically, that same week we read from The Torah, Parashat Kedoshim.  An extraordinary verse in the opening of Parashat Kedoshim utters a remarkable warning: “You shall be Holy, because I, Adonai Your God Am Holy!”  I suddenly realized that we spend our entire life looking for a way to grasp what Holiness is and how to attain it.  After watching all of those images and once again understanding that both pain and joy are opposite sides of the same coin I also realized that Holiness is found in between, in all those moments in life when we can strike a balance between what has happened to us and what we await with optimism will happen next!  The young prince, his bride by his side, a whole country cheering for them!  It was not really only about “The Royals” it was about an entire country understanding that the future that they had hoped for on some dark somber day many years ago, was finally materializing.  It was an entire nation that comforted the young men, not because they were Royals but because they were human.  The survivors of The Monstrous Tornados, broken, devastated, what gave them enough strength to walk, to pick up what little they had left?  The hope that tomorrow will be better than today.  The Hope that one-day, they too will be able to find joy in spite of the tragedy facing them.  That is Holiness, our ability to walk, move on.  That is Holiness our ability to pray for joy, to be optimistic in the darkest of moments.   That is Holiness, our ability to put our arms around the ones who were spared and not only cry with them but dream and hope and pray with them. That is Holiness; our ability to rejoice when the clouds finally lift and the sun shines again.

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