In This Issue
Spring Leadership Conference - Register Now!
Avatar and Tu B'shevat
DISCOUNTED Hamentashen for METNY Synagogues
Ziegler School Conversation on God
2010 Children in the Conservative Movement Census
UJA Connect to Care
Yasher Koach Corner
Publicize your event on the METNY Community Calendar. Please email

Jordana Bickel at

[email protected] to have your event posted.
Click here to view the calendar.

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Correction from last week's News:
Rabbi Gary Greene of Marathon JCC attended the Rabbi Richie Lewis METNY Shiur for rabbis and was pictured in the Rabbi Richie Lewis article.
Avatar, Judaism,and Tu B'shevat

The following material comes from the "ekehillah forum," and it was written by Jeffrey Schein. He writes:

Dear Rabbis and Educators,

So I admit to being a huge fan of Avatar. I have seen it twice and don't plan to just yet return my 3-d classes. I might go a third time.

I know for certain that most of the kids in our religious schools have probably already seen the movie.

I have not been so big a fan of the way Avatar has been portrayed on various blogs and e-mail where you might have imagined that the Navee natives of Pandora are directly influenced by having attended a Tu B'shevat seder with Issac Luria. So rather than being a "carping critic" I have tried to create some evocative questions about the movie and its possible relationship to Judaism.

I pass them on to you before they are very refined. Perhaps you will find them useful.

We thank Mr. Schein for his thoughts and source material and hope you find it useful in your synagogue.
 

 
 
 
  
Avatar Questions, Dialogues and Jewish Texts
 
Four Beginning Questions
1. What was the coolest thing about Avatar?
2. How would you retell the story of Avatar?
3. What does Avatar teach us about the way we ought to lead our lives?
4. What was Jewish about Avatar? (least likely question to evoke an immediate response; hence the resources below)
 
Jewish Connections and Texts
 
1. The Power of One and Civil Disobedience (Martin Luther King Day connection).
 
Shifra and Puah in the beginning of Exodus story (Exodus 1 15-17) are the unwilling midwifes who resisted Pharoah's command to kill all the first-born males Avatar Connection: The woman pilot who in the middle of the mission to destroy the sacred mountain of the Navee says "this is not what I signed up for" and begins the breaking of ranks that eventually undermines the corporate/military mission against Pandora. (This insight is b'shem Arthur Waskow in an e-mail from the Shalom center)
 
2. The power of community.
 
When Jake's avatar is up against the wall and with little hope of fighting back he also realizes that there is a whole "nation" of loosely linked peoples out there. He sends messengers to "gather up the people" from far and wide.

See the parallel in the book of Judges (chapters 4 and 5). When Devora and Barak gather the Israelites (listen to Debbie Friedman's "Devora's song" in Waters in the Well). Uniting the loosely allied tribes of Israelites is exactly the collective strength the Israelites needed to emerge victorious.

There also is a Maccabean theme running through the film. The invaders have superior power but do not know the local terrain in the way that the Navee people do. There is power in fighting for what is both familiar and sacred to you.
 
3. The Power of God and Jewish Philosophy
 
In Avatar Jake connects (literally) with the tree that is the pipleline to Ehwah the God of Pandora. He is comforted and gently rebuked by Eitera who tells him one can't ask these things of Ehwah who only "acts to preserve the balance of life" never for any individual person or party. (Yet, paradoxically she does seem to intervene in the end to rescue the Navee through the natural predators of the planet who attack the aliens).

From a Jewish perspective, does God respond to our prayers? Well, it depends whose understanding of God is operative. The Jewish philosopher Gersonides placed a great deal of stock in the notion of ayn hashgahat peratit (there is no providence for individuals; only for the human species as a whole and only through our power to act freely). The rabbis may have had the same thing in mind when they talk about al somchim b'nes, don't depend on miracles. Yet, there are generally more Jewish voices and understandings aligned with the possibility that God acts for the salvation of individuals and the Jewish people. It's complicated! (not the movie, but the recurring multi-vocal Jewish tradition).
 
There is a different piece of Jewish philosophy at work here. The Navee way of acknowledging a person is to look the person in the eye and say "I see you." The person being seen can reciprocate with "I see you". This emphasis on reciprocity and seeing the person is his/her whole wholeness is very reminiscent of Martin Buber's philosophy of 'I-Thou" relationships. It also seems to embody a phenomenon that Emanuel Levinas calls "optical ethics" in his book of nine essays on the Talmud. (again Arthur also alludes to the Buberian /yodea connection)
 
4). Good Guys and Bad Guys
 
Who are the bad guys in the movie? Who are the good guys? This question seems like a no brainer: good guys are the navee and the bad guys are the alien, corporate-military invaders.

Yet , again Judaism speaks in many voices. Many of you have studied Joseph Soliveitchik with my esteemed colleague Rabbi Moshe Berger. Adam I and Adam II maintain very complex and different relationship to the world of nature. One Adam is granted a measure of sovereignty over God's earth (and an implicit degree of permissible; the other Adam works within a different set of covenantal commitments and restraints. Neither is the same paragon of eco-friendliness as the navee of Pandora. We can act in such a way as to "green" Judaism by our actions but we can't pretend that it (Judaism) is something that it is not (in my opinion)
 
5. Methodological Footnote
 
Many of you were part of the luncheon last month where Rabbi Kislowitz, Earl Schwartz and myself tried to take you inside the three orientations to moral decision making suggested by Rabbi Judd Kruger Levingston in the new volume "Seeds of Character." Those orientations-and Barry suggested that they were more broadly Jewish orientations than narrowly "moral" orientations-were affirmed and assured, bridging and binding, and constructing and considering. I think there is a problem if we try to approach this "Jewishness" of Avatar using the assured and affirmed framework. In some other blogs I have seen the approach has been to effect a clear alignment of Jewish values and the values implicit and explicit in the film. In my humble judgment, this doesn't work. Hence the spirit in which these dialogues are suggested is that of bridging and binding moving back and forth between Judaism and Avatar in ways that are alert to shared values but also aware of dissonances between the value systems as well.

PURIM IS COMING!!!!

 
Purim is just around the corner! METNY USCJ and Reisman's Bakery are proud to offer a special discount for METNY synagogues on Hamantashen.  For just $23.10 your synagogue can receive 100 peices of Hamantashen at $3.30 per pound! Please call 718-331-1975 or click here to find out more information.
 
METNY has various  discounts and cooperative purchasing opportunities  for your synagogue. We are here to help you with purchases for our affiliated synagogues. To view METNY's entire list of cooperative purchasing opportunities, please check out the METNY website at www.uscj.org/metny.
 
 

The Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies in Los Angeles opened the semester with a dynamic conversation on God between Rabbis Elliot Dorff and Brad ArtsonRabbi Jonathan Bernhard moderated the conversation (and added some thoughts of his own).  Each gave a very personal, nuanced, and grounded picture of their belief and faith.  

 

You can access this conversation in two ways - video and audio.  

 

Videohttp://www.ajula.edu/Content/ContentUnit.asp?CID=187&u=8417&t=0 

 

Audio -http://web.mac.com/aaaron12/Aaron_Alexander/Rabbi_Artson_Podcast/Entries/2010/1/22_The_God_I_Believe_In%3A_Rabbis_Dorff_and_Artson.html  

(Or from the Itunes podcast store.  The audio starts about a minute or so into Jonathan's introduction)

 

 

          2010 Census of Children in the Conservative Movement Reminder

 

A reminder, if you or someone from your congregation has not yet done so, please complete the census of children in the Conservative movement.

 

Information needed for the census:

*number of children in the congregation [NOT just those in schools or youth groups] for grades K-12

*does the synagogue have a school program, youth program or both for each grade level.

 

www.uscj.org/survey/youthcensus.html 

 

All identifying information is stripped from the data.

 

Questions? Please contact Rabbi Paul Drazen at [email protected], 646-519-9310

 
 
A Response to the Economic Downturn
 
In this recession, many of us find ourselves in need of support - even those of us who never expected to need assistance.

UJA-Federation of New York's Connect to Care takes aim at the impact of the economic downturn in the Jewish community throughout all of New York City. This program provides a broad array of coordinated services designed to offer you and your family the help you need where and when you need it. Services are easy to access, discreet, and comprehensive, addressing a broad range of challenges you or your family may be facing.
The program offers:
  • Employment and career-transition services, including job networking opportunities and career seminars.
  • Financial consultation, debt counseling, and budget assistance.
  • Legal services.
  • Supportive counseling and Jewish spiritual care.
  • Loan Assistance.

We're Here to Help - To get help and to make an appointment in Manhattan, Riverdale, or Brownstone Brooklyn, call us at 212.399.2685 ext 206 or email [email protected].
  • For further information about UJA-Federation's Connect to Care, and to see locations of other Centers, call UJA-Federation's J11 Helpline at 1.877.UJA.NYJ11 (1-877-852-6951); or visit www.ujafedny.org/connect-to-care.
     
    Save the Date!
    March 2nd, 2010 from 1:30 - 3:30 PM
    A Job Fair at the JCC in Manhattan
     
    Meet recruitment professionals from a broad range of companies and staffing firms.  Discover employment opportunities. Bring copies of your resume. Business attire suggested.  Sponsored by UJA-Federation of New York's Connect to Care partners - JBFCS, F·E·G·S Employment and Career Transition Services, JCC in Manhattan and over 20 participating Manhattan Synagogues.  To register, call the JCC in Manhattan at 646.505.5726.  For more information, call 212.399.2685 ext. 206.
     

    The following agencies are partners with JBFCS for UJA-Federation of New York's Connect to Care in Manhattan:
  • The JCC in Manhattan is a full service Jewish community center which will provide, by appointment, on-site Connect to Care services - legal, financial and supportive counseling and a range of workshops and wellness programs.
  • Federation Employment Guidance Service (FEGS) is a broad-based health and human service delivery system that provides comprehensive career, employment and training services for individuals with multiple employment challenges.
  • New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG) is a nonprofit organization that offers vulnerable New Yorkers the legal help they critically need. NYLAG's mission is to provide free, civil legal services to individuals and families who would otherwise be unable to access legal assistance.
  • Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty serves as an advocate and defender for individuals in crisis. Met Council will provide its full array of services to Connect to Care clients, including crisis intervention, family violence intervention, emergency food and clothing, career services and health insurance enrollment.
  • Hebrew Free Loan Society provides loans for one-time expenses to pay for Jewish needs - such as day school, yeshiva tuition and related services - that a family might have to forgo in tight economic circumstances.

         
                                                                   Yasher Koach Corner
 
Mazel Tov to Rabbi Ari Perten on his installation as the Rabbi of Congregation Eitz-Chaim in Monroe, NY on January 24th. Pictured from left to right are Jennie Ossentjuk, Eitz Chaim Executive Vice President; Rabbi Ari Perten and his daughter Maayan; Nate Itzcowitz, Eitz Chaim President; and Rabbi Charles Savenor, METNY Executive Director.
 
 
 

 
 

 

 
 
We also extend a Yasher Koach to Congregation Ansche Chesed of Manhattan for their bake sale for Haiti. We applaud their efforts for tikun olam. Their synagogue bake sale will take place on Sunday, February 7th at 12pm.  If you are interested in volunteering or have any questions , please contact [email protected]

 
METNY USCJ has Moved!

Our new address is 820 Second Avenue, 10th Floor, New York, NY 10017

METNY's contact information is will remain the same -
Phone - 212-533-0800
Fax - 212-533-0400
 
We look forward to hearing from you!