After returning from the high school Yachad trip to Germany and Poland, Rabbi Timoner connects the figure of Amalek to Polish Holocaust erasure and recent Israeli pogroms in the West Bank.
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“Together, we are learning and embracing this most sacred mitzvah of caring for the dead,” said Rabbi Rachel Timoner of Congregation Beth Elohim. “At the same time, we have been developing our own rituals to be mindful and respectful of the multiplicity of gender identities.”
For the past several months, CBE has been in the process of establishing the first Reform chevra kadisha (burial society) in NYC with co-partners Plaza Jewish Community Chapel, Temple Shaaray Tefila, and Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion. Many of our members have become volunteers. Read The Forward‘s coverage here.
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Earlier this week, I needed to go into Manhattan, so I walked over to Atlantic to get the 4/5. As I made my way up to the platform, I noticed that there were four or five people standing on the stairs – one person every two or three steps.
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In Shabbat Yitro, God shows us that we need each other as one collective community, an idea that comes at odds with America’s focus on rugged individualism. Rabbi Timoner shares how we, in Park Slope, can do better—and the blindnesses we are all guilty of.
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Millie, I’m so glad you spoke about how important it is to ask for help and give help. Your message is actually really counter-cultural in American society, and it is a message that we desperately need right now. I want to say more about that in a minute, but first I need to point out the ways that your message resonates throughout the rest of your parasha and really throughout all of Jewish tradition.
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Rabbi Green discusses the struggles of envy.
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How do we fight the state of malaise that many of us are struggling with? Rabbi Timoner finds wisdom in the Midrash.
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Emma and Leo, I need to tell you how impressed I am with both of you. Your divrei Torah – both of them – gave me chills. You spoke with such beauty and power and truth. And it just so happens that your messages connect to something I feel a strong need to speak about today.
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In the wake of the East Jerusalem synagogue shooting, Rabbi Timoner stresses a message of solidarity.
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Israel and the Unknown Future
Vera, you speak so beautifully about facing the unknown and how frightening that can be. The Hebrews had been in Egypt for 430 years and now they were leaving. They had no way to imagine what lay ahead – what dangers, what possibilities. The known, even if it is wretched, is often more comfortable than the unknown.
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Did you know there are four Jewish new years? Rabbi Green wishes us, “Shanah Tovah” before Tu BiShvat and discusses how to mark time Jewishly.
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Rabbi Timoner considers the existence of Jewish karma, the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart, and how we can ensure that we don’t turn out like Pharaoh.
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Charlie, you know how to put the pressure on! Jessie and Doug, every parent in this room is feeling for you right now, even if we are dog people.
One of the roles of the darshan is to make Torah come to life and apply it to our concerns in our own age, and you certainly did that. But you didn’t just apply Torah to the pressing question of your own family’s pet ownership, you talked to us about Vladimir Putin and stubborn, violent, tyrannical leadership in our own time.
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Rabbi Green discusses the strange and unsettling experience of encountering our past selves.
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Drawing on David Nirenberg’s Anti-Judaism, Rabbi Timoner introduces The Book of Exodus and contemplates the concept of narrowing.
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Serach, what a profound joy to welcome you in person to CBE after years of learning with you and praying with you over zoom. What a profound joy to watch you become a bat mitzvah here in our sanctuary, for you to chant from the Torah, to teach us Torah, as a member of our community. What a blessing you are.
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What is our responsibility to others, and how does this intersect with God and providence? Rabbi Timoner considers these questions with the help of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, whose 50th yahrtzeit was this past week.
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Stella and Hudson, what thoughtful divrei Torah you’ve offered us this morning. Hudson, you asked about truth-telling and forgiveness. Is it OK to sometimes tell a lie? What is our responsibility to forgive when the one who wronged us does not seem to deserve it? Stella, you asked about theology. What are the implications of the idea of God’s providence on human responsibility? And this is where your two divrei Torah intersect.
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Rabbi Timoner shares stories of moral courage from Jewish leaders.
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I had dinner with Ruth Messinger on Thursday night. Ruth served on the New York City Council for 11 years from 1978 to 1989, and then was Manhattan borough president for 8 years, from 1990 to 1998, and then led AJWS, American Jewish World Service, for 18 years, and now has four jobs and is a general trailblazer and badass of the Jewish world. We got to talking about moral courage, in particular its indispensable function in rabbinic leadership and Jewish leadership more broadly. Ruth told me two stories that I knew I’d want to share with you this morning.
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Rabbi Green shares his thoughts leading into the secular New Year.
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We find ourselves this week in the midst of the high drama of the Joseph story. The parasha opens with Joseph down in Egypt, having been sold into slavery by his jealous brothers. After being falsely accused by his master’s wife, he finds himself in prison, where through his gift at dream interpretation, he eventually is released and called to Pharaoh’s side to interpret Pharaoh’s dreams.
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This week, Rabbi Kolin is co-chairing and presenting at the Multi-faith Initiative to End Mass Incarceration “Let My People Go” Conference. The conference is held at the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, GA, and other speakers include Dr. Raphael Warnock. Rabbi Kolin’s plenary topic will be on the campaign to close Rikers.
When to surrender and when to fight?
Thank you, Haile, for your immensely thoughtful and deep d’var Torah. I know we’re all praying for your grandmother’s healing. Thank you for teaching us about her inspiring example. Your theory is that Jacob didn’t intervene in Joseph’s suffering because he trusted God. He trusted that even though Joseph was suffering there must have been some larger plan or greater good, so he waited. And we’ll find out in a few chapters that Joseph trusted God and believed that his brothers’ actions were on God’s behalf.
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Antisemitism, Continued
Galit and Samson, what insightful, important divrei Torah you’ve given this morning. I am so impressed with both of you on this day you become bnei mitzvah.
I feel that the fear in this parasha and the wrestling imagery and the anticipated confrontation fits the American Jewish experience of this week and this month very well. This is going to be my third sermon on antisemitism in five weeks. That’s a record.
Just to give you a sense of what has come across my rabbinic field of vision in the last week:
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Hanukkah is about our resilience and showing the world that we’re here.
Rabbi Green was interviewed today on WNYC’s All of it With Alison Stewart. Listen to the interview here.
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Everyone in every neighborhood has a role. That’s the contest we’re in—every voice matters.
Once again, Rabbi Timoner was quoted in an article about Jewish Americans confronting antisemitism. Click here to read the article.
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“Rabbi Rachel Timoner became increasingly worried that New York City Mayor Eric Adams was only hearing from conservative Orthodox Jewish leaders. So the progressive Park Slope rabbi invited 55 women clergy for a meeting with the mayor.”
Yasher koach to Rabbi Rabbi Timoner for being named among City and State NY‘s Faith Power 100! The list celebrates the most influential faith leaders in NYC, and we are extremely proud to see her many accomplishments recognized. Click here to read the full article.
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“We are all trying to figure out how to be Jews in the 21st century,” said Rabbi Matt Green, who led the blessings. “And this is it.”
Rabbi Green was featured in a New York Times article, “Shabbat is a Salve, and a Scene” about the ways in which young people are embracing Shabbat during a time of increased antisemitism. Read it here.
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Rabbi Rachel Timoner had always cherished Israel as a haven where Jews could aspire to their highest ideals. But after Benjamin Netanyahu won a sixth term as prime minister with the help of two far-right parties this month, she was shaken.
Rabbi Timoner and several CBE members were quoted in The New York Times‘ article, “Netanyahu’s Comeback Widens Divide Over Israel Among American Jews.” Read it here.
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Rabbi Timoner uses the relationship of Ishmael and Isaac to discuss Israel–Palestine, Dave Chapelle, and Black–Jewish relations.
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Rabbi Kolin discusses what we can learn about giving from Rebecca and the camel test.
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“By going to this play, you are engaging with Judaism,” [Rabbi] Green said. “It’s not just about inspiring people to be involved with Judaism, but actually, it is a Jewish act to see this play.”
The Gett, which CBE co-commissioned with Rattlestick Theater, was covered in Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Read the article here.
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The events at Congregation Beth Elohim grew out of a chance encounter with the synagogue’s assistant rabbi, Matt Green, 32. He first met Mr. Rinksy in an O.J.M.-branded baseball cap.
“I asked him where he got it, and it turned out he was the genius behind the Instagram account,” Rabbi Green said. ‘I introduced myself as a rabbi, and we got to talking.
Rabbi Matt Green was quoted in The New York Times‘ coverage of the Old Jewish Men Fall Ball, which took place at CBE. Click here to read the full article.
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On Thursday night, I had the privilege of being in conversation at the public library with Masha Gessen, the brilliant Russian-American journalist and author who, in the pages of the New Yorker and eleven books, has warned us for years about the danger of Vladimir Putin and the threat of autocracy in the United States.
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On Saturday, November 5, 2022, Rabbi Timoner addressed the increase of antisemitism, the recent Israeli election, and the 2022 U.S. midterm elections in her sermon, which was mentioned in The New York Times‘ article, “Between Kanye and the Midterms, the Unsettling Stream of Antisemitism.” We are proud to share it with all of you.
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Our member Margery Cooper recently spoke to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency about climate change, a top policy concern for American Jews. Click here to read her thoughts on the importance of climate advocacy and her work with CBE’s Dayenu Circle.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, another CBE member, is also mentioned. He recently led the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, a $370 billion climate bill.
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A rabbi, a minister, and an imam walked into Lincoln Center—and the rabbi was our very own Matt Green! Rabbi Green was the rabbi for Lincoln Center’s Celebrate Love: A (Re)Wedding, a symbolic marriage ceremony for couples whose weddings had been postponed due to the pandemic.
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“As Jews, we ought to be contributing our voices to the reduction of gun violence.”
—Rabbi Timoner
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This week, we have been witness to the shocking details of an unworthy insurrection which resulted in violence, chaos, and misguided actions that were built on a lie. I am of course speaking about this week’s Torah portion, parshat Korach. Sometimes Torah lines it up just right.
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NPR’s Weekend Edition featured our recent Havdalah service, where we gathered on the steps of CBE in the wake of the Roe decision. Rabbi Timoner and Rabbi Kolin were both quoted in the piece. To paraphrase Rabbi Kolin, we will continue to demand sweetness from this world even when it feels the most bitter.
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This year, Rabbi Timoner was featured in The New York Jewish Week‘s 36 to Watch 2022! KM “DiCo” DiColandrea, former assistant director at CBE’s Yachad, was also recognized. We’re excited to see their work honored.
To read more about them and other Jewish New Yorkers making a difference in our community, click here.
“The current campaign that advocates for the teaching of the rudiments of secular education in ultra-Orthodox schools in New York State […] arose in response to the alarming numbers — in the tens of thousands, according to Yaffed — of Jewish children in New York State being denied the building blocks of secular knowledge. Without this education, there is a high likelihood of poverty.”
On Thursday, May 24th, Rabbi Rachel Timoner organized a group of 55 women and women-identifying rabbis and cantors to speak to Mayor Eric Adams. Representing all denominations, the group marks the largest and first ever group of women rabbis and cantors to speak to a NYC mayor.
Watch Rabbi Timoner address the press here:
Rabbi @rtimoner said that this is the largest and first ever meeting of women rabbis and cantors with a mayor of NYC.
“This is the face of Jewish leadership in New York City,” Timoner said. pic.twitter.com/dgD7Ot8aIV
— Jacob Henry (@jhenrynews) May 19, 2022
Read coverage of this event in The Forward, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, The Jerusalem Post, and The Times of Israel.
Watch Rabbi Rachel Timoner’s invocation @NYCMayor Eric Adams’ speech marking his first 100 Days in office. Rachel, a NYJA Board Member and Co-Founder, did us proud today with her powerful and prayerful remarks! @rtimoner @CBEBK @bradlander pic.twitter.com/UJlbE8lETy
— New York Jewish Agenda (@NYJewishAgenda) April 26, 2022