As I type I am sitting in my hotel room in Eastbourne, I can actually hear the seagulls on the sea, and for that matter the sound of holiday makers enjoying the last of summer. Its actually very summer like. Shortly I will head off to lead the evening services for Rosh Hashanah. I am feeling pretty up-beat about it. My sermon is good and I am happy with my study session for tomorrow and with my Torah reading (we will have to see how things actually go.)
But I certainly feel much happier this year than I did last, and so much more so than my first time leading in Coventry.
It has made me think about the past, last year in Manchester, two years ago in Coventry and amazing three years ago in Jerusalem. Before that things blur into the many, many High Holy Day seasons I spent at Menorah.
( I am also getting to grips with Yom Kippur, sermons, readings, and study sessions) but I still have a bunch of stuff to do.
On the new flat front, there is still some stuff to do, admin stuff mostly. Last week Emily's mum was over from Canada. To help with the move, and it was really really useful to have her around to help. It was also fun, especially I think for Emily.
Mainly work, but some fun things also, a window shopping trip to London proper.
Any this is really no time to be blogging. I am going for a short walk before services.
Shannah Tovah to one and all.
May 5774 be year of blessings and joys for all who read this.
Showing posts with label Services. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Services. Show all posts
Wednesday, 4 September 2013
Friday, 5 July 2013
last service of the year
Yesterday was the last service of the year here at Leo Baeck College, which was really lovely. Esther H., lead the first part of the service with guitar and singing, Benji, led a other parts of the service in a pleasant nuisa, he also layined the Torah reading, and Leah gave a really great D'var Torah, which really captured the right tone and mode for the occasion.
This was followed by the presentation of Talliot, again very beautiful. Dava participated in Taliting Esther, as did Banji for Leah along with her Dad and Leah helped to Tallit Benji. I was actually in tears by the end because it was so very moving.
After the service I chilled out in the Blue room before going for lunch with some of the first years: Hannah, Kath, Naomi, and Robyn we went to the Pizza place near the college. This was very nice as I don't normally get a chance to hang out with either Naomi or Robyn.
Back at the college I chilled again for a few minutes talking with Leah, before taking Emily's guitar back to the flat.
Latter I went to Tesco to buy some goods for dinner. Emily and I are having a campain of correct-eating. As we think how bad we are feeling is down to not eating enough protein and or fruit and veggies. It has only been going a day (All of yesterday, three meals. Fruit and veggies, and proper protein.) And a proper breakfast this morning.
I still have a lot on, I think that this is going to be fairly smooth sailing.
This was followed by the presentation of Talliot, again very beautiful. Dava participated in Taliting Esther, as did Banji for Leah along with her Dad and Leah helped to Tallit Benji. I was actually in tears by the end because it was so very moving.
After the service I chilled out in the Blue room before going for lunch with some of the first years: Hannah, Kath, Naomi, and Robyn we went to the Pizza place near the college. This was very nice as I don't normally get a chance to hang out with either Naomi or Robyn.
Back at the college I chilled again for a few minutes talking with Leah, before taking Emily's guitar back to the flat.
Latter I went to Tesco to buy some goods for dinner. Emily and I are having a campain of correct-eating. As we think how bad we are feeling is down to not eating enough protein and or fruit and veggies. It has only been going a day (All of yesterday, three meals. Fruit and veggies, and proper protein.) And a proper breakfast this morning.
I still have a lot on, I think that this is going to be fairly smooth sailing.
Tuesday, 23 April 2013
Today was a good day
Its amazing what a little sunshine and warmth can do to left my mood. But today has been a busy day and one filled with work but it was nevertheless a good day. This was due two two factors. Firstly because it had breaks in it, yes actually breaks. And secondly because its sunny.
I slept until my alarm went off at 7am and then headed off to college, I normally wake earlier than this so this alone the little extra-sleep got the day off to good start. The walk to school was much more pleasant than it has been in ages, the sun was shinning and the world of nature was waking, birds singing and butterflies and other insects abounded.
The morning service was led by a visiting rabbi who had come to talk to us about Rabbi Dr. John Rayner, this was very interesting and it was also a very pleasant service. I then had quite a sizeable break (very nice and very rare) so I did some preparations in the library and then went and did my reading for class outside in the fresh air.
My next class was on Rambam and was very interesting, I feel that I am starting to get to grips with the some of his ideas.
After lunch (more time outdoors) we had one of our extended Rabbinic literature class. We are looking at a fascinating section of Tractate Kiddushin, during class we also looked at how to use various on-line resources to help with writing our essays.
After that I went to the library and did some more work on my Midrash and Rabbinic literature essays.
I then came back to the flat and did some more work. I still hope to get a relatively early night but I still have some preparation to do for Piyyutim class tomorrow. But today was a really gently pleasant day.
I slept until my alarm went off at 7am and then headed off to college, I normally wake earlier than this so this alone the little extra-sleep got the day off to good start. The walk to school was much more pleasant than it has been in ages, the sun was shinning and the world of nature was waking, birds singing and butterflies and other insects abounded.
The morning service was led by a visiting rabbi who had come to talk to us about Rabbi Dr. John Rayner, this was very interesting and it was also a very pleasant service. I then had quite a sizeable break (very nice and very rare) so I did some preparations in the library and then went and did my reading for class outside in the fresh air.
My next class was on Rambam and was very interesting, I feel that I am starting to get to grips with the some of his ideas.
After lunch (more time outdoors) we had one of our extended Rabbinic literature class. We are looking at a fascinating section of Tractate Kiddushin, during class we also looked at how to use various on-line resources to help with writing our essays.
After that I went to the library and did some more work on my Midrash and Rabbinic literature essays.
I then came back to the flat and did some more work. I still hope to get a relatively early night but I still have some preparation to do for Piyyutim class tomorrow. But today was a really gently pleasant day.
Friday, 17 February 2012
Sermon at Leo Baeck college
This is the text of the sermon I gave at LBC a couple of weeks back. Hope you all like it. I am leading services next week so am busy planning/working on that but now its time to go think about getting ready for shabbat and being peaceful for a little while. Shabbat Shalom.
And when Israel saw the mighty power which the Eternal had wielded in Egypt, the people feared the Eternal and they had faith in the Eternal and in His servant Moses. (Exodus 14:31)
The Children of Israel are no longer slaves in Egypt. They have just crossed the Reed Sea, which had miraculously parted for them. They have seen Pharaoh and his armies drowned in it. Now they believe in God and in Moses. In fact they are about to overtaken by prophetic ecstasy and will burst into song; known to us as the Song of Sea.
But how quickly things can change. In the very next chapter the Israelites will complain about Moses. And even before the giving of the Torah has been completed, while Moses is still on Mt. Sinai, they will build and worship the golden calf. The same people who had been saved from slavery and had seen all the miracles, which went along with the redemption, will commit idolatry.
Idolatry and its consequences became a theme of Israelite history. Over and over again the Israelites rebelled against God and worshiped idols: both during the forty years that they spent in the wilderness and when they settled in the Land of Israel, in the period of the Judges and then the Monarchy.
In the Book of Judges every time the Israelites turned away from the Eternal and worshiped idols they would be attacked by the neighbouring nations and according to the Babylonian Talmud one of the main reasons for the destruction of the First Temple and the Babylonian exile that followed it was idolatry.
This phenomenon continued and presented the Sages with a difficult question. How could people who had witnessed the presence of God or had heard the words of the prophets or were very wise possibly have committed idolatry?
The not especially earth-shattering answer they reached was that past generations had an inclination to worship idols.
The power of this desire, to worship idols, is related in a story in Tractate Sanhedrin. A Rabbi was lecturing about King Manasseh, a King of Judah famous for his wisdom and infamous for his idol-worship; during the lecture the rabbi referred to Manasseh in a disparaging way. That night the king appeared to the rabbi in a dream and asked him a difficult halakhic question.
The rabbi was unable to answer and after Manasseh had answered his own question the rabbi asked. 'If you were so wise how did you come to worship idols?' To which Manasseh retorted, 'Had you been there you would have rushed to serve them!'
How could this have happened? The answer is given in one of my favourite talmudic narratives, which can be found in Tractate Sanhedrin.
When the Men of the Great Assembly were building Judaism after the return from exile they were concerned that further idolatry might result in more hardship. So they prayed for their people to be relieved from the inclination to idolatry. Their prayers were successful and they were able to capture and subdue the inclination to idolatry.
Although the inclination to idolatry may no longer be with us, the Yetzer Hara, the inclination to evil very much is. But this might not be such a bad thing, for unlike the doctrine of original sin the Yetzer Hara is not an inherently bad thing.
This idea is powerfully expressed in the continuation of the Talmudic story about the Men of Great of the Assembly and the inclination to idolatry. When they had succeeded in subduing this inclination they prayed to be able to do the same to the Yetzer Hara: at which point the Yetzer Hara appeared in the form of a cat. While attempting to capture it a single hair was pulled from its coat, at which it let out a roar so loud that it shook the building. The Men of the Great Assembly decided that it would be wiser not to try and slay the Yetzer Hara so they sealed it up in a box instead.
And what was the result of a world without the Yetzer Hara?
Basically everything stopped.
The Sages concluded that without the Yetzer Hara people would not learn a trade, study, build a house, or raise a family. According to the story when the Yetzer Hara was imprisoned even chickens stopped laying eggs. Faced with the realisation that the Yetzer Hara was necessary the Men of the Great Assembly released it.
Although the Yetzer Hara is not entirely evil it is essential to balance it with the Yetzer Hatov, the good inclination. Because of the prompting of the Yetzer Hara we work and study hard and go about the business of life. And through the struggle required in balancing the Yetzer Hara and Yetzer Hatov, personal growth becomes a real possibility.
Adam Frankenberg
February 2012
And when Israel saw the mighty power which the Eternal had wielded in Egypt, the people feared the Eternal and they had faith in the Eternal and in His servant Moses. (Exodus 14:31)
The Children of Israel are no longer slaves in Egypt. They have just crossed the Reed Sea, which had miraculously parted for them. They have seen Pharaoh and his armies drowned in it. Now they believe in God and in Moses. In fact they are about to overtaken by prophetic ecstasy and will burst into song; known to us as the Song of Sea.
But how quickly things can change. In the very next chapter the Israelites will complain about Moses. And even before the giving of the Torah has been completed, while Moses is still on Mt. Sinai, they will build and worship the golden calf. The same people who had been saved from slavery and had seen all the miracles, which went along with the redemption, will commit idolatry.
Idolatry and its consequences became a theme of Israelite history. Over and over again the Israelites rebelled against God and worshiped idols: both during the forty years that they spent in the wilderness and when they settled in the Land of Israel, in the period of the Judges and then the Monarchy.
In the Book of Judges every time the Israelites turned away from the Eternal and worshiped idols they would be attacked by the neighbouring nations and according to the Babylonian Talmud one of the main reasons for the destruction of the First Temple and the Babylonian exile that followed it was idolatry.
This phenomenon continued and presented the Sages with a difficult question. How could people who had witnessed the presence of God or had heard the words of the prophets or were very wise possibly have committed idolatry?
The not especially earth-shattering answer they reached was that past generations had an inclination to worship idols.
The power of this desire, to worship idols, is related in a story in Tractate Sanhedrin. A Rabbi was lecturing about King Manasseh, a King of Judah famous for his wisdom and infamous for his idol-worship; during the lecture the rabbi referred to Manasseh in a disparaging way. That night the king appeared to the rabbi in a dream and asked him a difficult halakhic question.
The rabbi was unable to answer and after Manasseh had answered his own question the rabbi asked. 'If you were so wise how did you come to worship idols?' To which Manasseh retorted, 'Had you been there you would have rushed to serve them!'
How could this have happened? The answer is given in one of my favourite talmudic narratives, which can be found in Tractate Sanhedrin.
When the Men of the Great Assembly were building Judaism after the return from exile they were concerned that further idolatry might result in more hardship. So they prayed for their people to be relieved from the inclination to idolatry. Their prayers were successful and they were able to capture and subdue the inclination to idolatry.
Although the inclination to idolatry may no longer be with us, the Yetzer Hara, the inclination to evil very much is. But this might not be such a bad thing, for unlike the doctrine of original sin the Yetzer Hara is not an inherently bad thing.
This idea is powerfully expressed in the continuation of the Talmudic story about the Men of Great of the Assembly and the inclination to idolatry. When they had succeeded in subduing this inclination they prayed to be able to do the same to the Yetzer Hara: at which point the Yetzer Hara appeared in the form of a cat. While attempting to capture it a single hair was pulled from its coat, at which it let out a roar so loud that it shook the building. The Men of the Great Assembly decided that it would be wiser not to try and slay the Yetzer Hara so they sealed it up in a box instead.
And what was the result of a world without the Yetzer Hara?
Basically everything stopped.
The Sages concluded that without the Yetzer Hara people would not learn a trade, study, build a house, or raise a family. According to the story when the Yetzer Hara was imprisoned even chickens stopped laying eggs. Faced with the realisation that the Yetzer Hara was necessary the Men of the Great Assembly released it.
Although the Yetzer Hara is not entirely evil it is essential to balance it with the Yetzer Hatov, the good inclination. Because of the prompting of the Yetzer Hara we work and study hard and go about the business of life. And through the struggle required in balancing the Yetzer Hara and Yetzer Hatov, personal growth becomes a real possibility.
Adam Frankenberg
February 2012
Sunday, 31 October 2010
Friday night service
Well I have now led my Friday night service along with Nancy my Cantor, she was amazing and i think that the service was really beautiful (more her than me really). I ended with a priestly blessing which is something that I have missed since getting here (other people have also missed it). And with Nancy's help I introduced some British Reform tunes.
But on Saturday and even more so on Sunday i had no voice at all. Now quite late on Sunday night (I am about to go to bed ahead off another school day) I cannot even wishper. Sigh I feel fine thought so its not that bad.
But on Saturday and even more so on Sunday i had no voice at all. Now quite late on Sunday night (I am about to go to bed ahead off another school day) I cannot even wishper. Sigh I feel fine thought so its not that bad.
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