4 Weeks of Elul 5766
 Week Two: Community

August 31, 2006

Dear Friends,

As we enter into the second week of Elul, we commemorate the one year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's devastating impact on the Gulf coast. This week I want us to focus on our relationship to Community.

Last March, as you will recall, I visited New Orleans and performed a benefit concert for Congregation Gates of Prayer in Metairie, LA. While I was there, Rabbi Robert Loewy took me on a tour of the devastation. This was six months after the waters had receded. Things had not and still have not changed all that much in certain areas of the city. While I was touring the Lower Ninth Ward I took these photographs and wrote the following song lyrics:

The Lower 9th Ward
 		  
Just an old kid's sneaker
In the middle of the road.
Filled with soot and silt and remnants
Of a Delta motherlode.
Like it was looking for its partner
Like it was looking for a soul
Like it was somehow going to run again
Kick a ball or score a goal.
And if I live to be a hundred.
My eyes and ears they will record
The horror and the helplessness
Of the lower 9th ward.
 
The jackhammers they were pounding
A hideous metronome
Bearing witness to the rhythm of this urban catacomb
Like a funeral procession
A second line of funk
Sideways stepping, almost dancing
There were jewels among the junk
And the relics and the riches
And the concrete never pored
And the total devastation
Of the lower 9th ward.
 

And I saw Hope exiled
To the garbage piles
Like the quick denials
After claims were filed
 
And the crows up in the treetops
Silhouetted in the sky
With their salvage operation
Saw it coming from on high
There were miles of desolation
There was writing on the walls
There were bodies that were waiting
There were never answered calls
As we gazed out on the rubble
Our silent witness underscored
The shame and the salvation
Of the lower 9th ward.
 

Words and Music Rabbi Joseph R. Black
© Lanitunes music 2006 (ASCAP - all rights reserved)
 		  

We remember.....but remembering is not enough. We are called to action as well.

As Jews, we are taught of the necessity to perform acts of Gemilut Chasadim - loving kindness. The process of Tikkun Olam, repairing our all too imperfect world, must be foremost in our minds as we prepare ourselves for the High Holy Days.

The following questions will help you focus your Elul preparations on how you can make a difference for good in your congregation, community and, indeed, the world itself.  Again, this is by no means a complete list.  There are many other areas that can be explored.  Hopefully, this will provide you with a starting place for a much longer process.

  1. Have I been generous enough in my support - financially or otherwise - of the institutions and charities that I find important?
  2. Have I done all that I could to help those impacted by natural disasters around the world?
  3. Have I involved myself in reaching out to those in Israel who were left homeless and physically, psychologically and spiritually wounded impacted by the recent war?
  4. Have I worked to strengthen my congregation?  Have I given of my skills and expertise when asked? 
  5. Have I found myself demonizing "the other" - giving in to stereotypes and baseless hatred that only perpetuates cycles of despair?
  6. When I was at synagogue, did I do all that I could to make others feel welcomed in the same way that I want to feel welcome?
  7. Have I spoken out when I perceived discrimination or inequity based on economics, ethnicity, religion, gender or sexual orientation in our community?

I want to hear from you regarding these messages.  I welcome your comments and suggestions.  I can be reached by phone (505-883-1818) or e-mail ().  These questions will also be available in hard copy at the Temple Office. If you know of anyone else who might want to receive these lists, contact our list administrator, .

L'shanah Tovah U'metukah - May you have a good and sweet new year,

Rabbi Joseph R. Black
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