As we prepare ourselves for the Holy Days ahead, this wonderful resource, The Jewels of Elul, provides food for thought on each day of Elul.  It is a collection of writings and introspections from well-known and fascinating people, including President Obama, the Dalai Lama, Elie Wiesel and many others.

Another wonderful resource, provided by interfaithfamily.com, is this link to High Holy Day blessings, along with translations, transliterations and even sound.

May this time be filled with introspection, thoughtful conversation, healing and repair, wonderful celebrations and expressions of gratitude.  As the year of 5771 draws to a close, The Open Tent thanks you for your support in our mission of Jewish engagement.  We look forward to sharing a new year of 5772 with our Open Tent friends, near and far.  May it be a year of blessings, renewal, growth and peace.

While we, thankfully, live in a great democracy, there are many ways we are not free. As Pesach approaches, I’m thinking about ways in my life that I constrict my own freedom. The name Mitrayim means “narrow place”. It was the narrow birth canal through which the Israelites had to pass to be born into freedom. My yoga teacher, Rabbi Myriam Klotz, shed new light on this word for me. She pointed out that if we remove the center of the Hebrew word Mitzrayim, the “tzr” (which means narrow), we are left with the word “mayim”, which means water. Water is the clear, buoyant fluid that carries us, moves us and sustains us. Once we remove the narrow places from our lives, we are left with the liberating sensation of floating.

As we prepare for Pesach, let’s think about what’s confining and constraining us. What relationships are keeping us in a narrow place? Are we a prisoner to our iphone or blackberry? Are we staying where we are because it’s comfortable/safe or because it’s life affirming?

Moreover, if we parse the word “mayim” (water) further, we create the words “ma im?” – which translate as “what if?” Once we remove the narrow place from Mitzrayim, we are left with infinite possibilities….what if? This is the opportunity to reflect on the life we are leading and imagine the life we wish to lead. What if? What if anything was possible?

As we examine our homes for those morsels of hametz, let us examine our souls as well. Pesach affords us the chance to liberate ourselves from that which is holding us back and become champions of our own lives.

Pesach is known as Z’man Simchateynu – the Season of our Joy. May each of you rejoice in the infinite possibilities of being alive and find new ways to bring freedom to yourself and others this Passover.

It turns our parenting is a hot button issue of the first order!  Parenting is the toughest job a person will ever have, and yet most of us receive no formal training, no manuals, no mentors – other than our own parents.

In Chua’s book, she refers (occasionally) to her Jewish husband who was raised in a permissive Jewish home.  In a WSJ article entitled:  “In Defense of the Guilty, Ambivalent, Preoccupied Western Mom,” (1/15) Jewish mother, Ayelet Waldman, responds to Chua.  She admits to allowing everything that’s forbidden to Chua’s children:  sleepovers, playing on the computer, quitting music lessons, etc.

So who’s right?

Perhaps the thing which most offended people across America who read the article, was Chua’s self righteousness tone.  For most of us, parenting is a most humbling task.  Each of my 3 daughters has tested me, taught me, and humbled me.  Parenting is a series of best intentions, trial and error, triumphs and heartache.  It’s doing things we swore we would never do because we didn’t know any better when we swore it.

As for me, I still don’t have it right but I keep trying.  I bought Chua’s book to see if I could learn a thing or two.  If there’s anyone else out there who wants to talk about this, I’m hosting a discussion on Monday, March 7^th at 7:30 p.m.  You can rsvp to share@theopentent.org and I’ll tell you where we’re meeting.  I think there’s a lot we can learn from each other — as long as we realize there’s no one “right” way.  Indulgent vs. Militant?  How about somewhere in the middle?

The concept of how we eat bringing us closer to perfection, or making us holier, is very much part of our tradition.  The rules of keeping kosher are meant to teach us discipline and purity, two values which bring us closer to God.  As modern Jews, there are many ways to eat beyond the traditional rules of kashrut that may help to sanctify our lives.  This Tu B’Shvat, let’s consider how we eat.  How far does our food travel from farm to fork?  What pesticides were used?  How were the laborers who picked and processed the food treated?  Is the food nourishing and healthful?

Our organic and local Jewish food collective, Yaroq, is inviting new participants to the collective this January.  If you are interested, please contact Sharon@tbsmb.org for more information.  We are members of a national Jewish collective organized by Hazon.  To learn more about Jews and eating, visit hazon.org or the Jew and the Carrot. And if you’d like to get your hands dirty planting this Tu B’Shvat, try putting some parsley seeds into the ground.  They should be ready just in time for your Passover Seder!  Happy birthday to the trees!

So what if Chanukah isn’t one of the major Jewish festivals?  In our family, it’s filled with sizzling latkes, dazzling menorahs, fun gifts, chocolate gelt, family tzedakah, spinning dreidels and, of course, our famous Chanukah hora.  We have 8 nights to celebrate the miracle of religious freedom (and more for those of us who are beginning early).  Let’s make each one of them count.

The Open Tent begins a new tradition this year.  We will be lighting the Chanukiah, spinning dreidels, singing Chanukah songs and giving out yummy latkes on Lincoln Road this year.  Join us on Saturday evening, December 4^th from 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. by the Colony Theater at Lenox and Lincoln to celebrate with community.

Do you have a favorite Chanukah ritual you’d like to share?  Please send in your traditions for us to share.

Our first goal in forming an agricultural collective, is to restore the relationship Jews traditionally have had to the land.  Traditionally, almost every Jewish holiday has a strong connection to agriculture and the Earth.  The Talmud tells a story about a miracle man and mischief-maker named Honi.  One day Honi was walking down a road when he saw an old man planting a carob tree.  Honi asked the old man how many years it would take for the carob tree to bear fruit.  The man replied:  “About 70 years.”  “Silly old man,” Honi responded.  “Do you really think you’ll live another 70 years to see its fruit?!”  To which the old man replied, “I found the world planted with carob trees.  As my ancestors planted for me, so I will plant for my descendants.”

We want to restore a Jewish sense of responsibility toward stewardship of the Earth.  The production and distribution of agriculture has radically changed since the days of Honi.  We have become so far removed from the cycle of growing and harvesting that we are desensitized to the impact it is making on our environment.  Currently, nearly 20% of our national energy consumption comes from growing, transporting and storing our food.  The average meal travels 1500 miles from farm to fork!  The majority of food we receive through Yaroq comes from local farmers.  By supporting our local farmers and purchasing only organic produce, we are significantly cutting down on the greenhouse gasses produced by transportation, refrigeration and petroleum based fertilizers.  Most of the produce we receive is picked on a Wednesday and delivered to our Temple courtyard on Thursday!

Another goal for Yaroq is to build community.  We want to bring together a group of like minded people who share a concern for the environment and healthful eating.  We want to create relationships where people share ideas about nutrition, the environment and delicious recipes.  We do this in many ways.  Friendships are formed over fruits and veggies as host families sort and package the produce.  We learn from each other at Shabbat dinners where each family can share a favorite vegetarian recipe.  There will be at least one cooking class where new skills are acquired.  Hopefully we will also have the opportunity to visit one of the farms from which we receive produce.  And of course we have a Facebook group, where people can exchange information, recipes and ideas.

If you missed the opportunity to enroll in the first half of our season, please let us know you are interested in participating in the second half (starting in February).

A synagogue is not a grocery store.  But we are a source for sustainable living, sharing ideas, Jewish learning and forming community.  Please join us in Yaroq if you’re looking for even more than fresh and delicious produce.

In our tradition, the only public confession we make is a scripted and communal one called the Al Cheyt:

• The sin we have committed against you under duress or by choice
• The sin we have committed against you openly or secretly
• The sin we have committed against you with our words…

But some of us feel the need for a more personal public confession.  So recently, in the spirit of reality television and our technology dominated culture, a few forward thinking Jewish organizations have provided a forum for individuals to make personal public confessions.  Last year, the Partnership for Jewish Life and Learning, operated a Repent it Forward website program, where people could make confessions like:  “playing with my Blackberry but acting like I am reading important emails”, or “justifying littering by saying my trash is biodegradable.”  The National Jewish Outreach Program launched a projectforgiveness.com website a few years ago, in which people could post their wrongdoings (although the website seems to have expired – have the gates of forgiveness closed?!).

Our tradition teaches that repentance is only complete when we directly approach a person we have wronged to ask for forgiveness.  But for “sins” committed against ourselves, or some would say God, there is no reason why technology shouldn’t be harnessed to encourage spiritual reflection.  Nothing can replace face to face community, but cyber-community can also be holy space.

Is there something you’d like to confess publicly, not-quite-anonymously?

Consider this a safe space.  Post it here.

This is my first Miami summer with a dog.  It’s hot when I walk him at 7:00 am, and it’s hot when I walk him at 7:00 pm.  It’s just hot.  But the heat isn’t all bad.  It forces me to slow down from my usual frenetic fast paced day of appointments, work, calls, carpools, e-mails, cooking and more, and pause, stretch and breathe.

Fast is at a premium today.  We respond to e-mails instantly, eat fast food and multi-task. Even writing a blog is a quick communication device.  Instead of sitting down and really considering my thoughts and putting them down in a critical, orderly fashion, I’m thinking, writing, and eating a sandwich all at the same time.

My oldest daughter who just finished her Freshman year of college was home recently.  She sat on the couch watching TV, with her computer open in front of her bouncing from website to facebook, and her cell phone vibrating on her lap with multiple text messages.  The stimulation is endless.

My cousin just shared a story with me.  She was driving with her 6 year old son in the backseat.  He kept pestering her to look at something, and she kept telling him that she couldn’t, that she was driving.  “Can’t you ‘pause’ the road?” he cried to her?  Our children are being conditioned to get everything they want the instant they desire it.

Thank goodness for summer.  Let’s let the heat slow us down.  Let’s disconnect from technology, go to the beach and maybe even leave our cell phones at home.  Let’s do one thing at a time.  Let’s sip instead of gulp.  Stroll instead of dash.  Let’s pause the road.  Let’s do Shabbat.

Dear Diary:
Emerging from the subway at 96^th and Broadway, I heard the familiar sound of a man preaching from a Bible.  Some things never change.
But the Bible caught my eye — it was thinner than usual.  The man was preaching from a Kindle!  Some things will never be the same.—Ora Shtull

This just about sums up the work of The Open Tent.  The Judaism stays the same – same Torah, same holidays, same rituals (and then some).  But what’s changing is our approach.  We want to help you do Jewish in an unintimidating and meaningful way.  We’re doing everything from re-visioning the Seder through art, to making Shabbat on the beach with friends, to finger-painting the Sh’ma on pillowcases with our toddlers!  We bring people together to figure out how to do Jewish in a way that’s fresh and enduring.

Anyone who wants to join us is welcome.  Kayak under the stars in May.  Try Jewish yoga in June.  Join in the conversation on Facebook  (http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=50143776310&ref=ts) or here on our website.  The tent is open and expanding.

Every year when I see the full moon on Purim I know I have a one month countdown until Passover.  This means cleaning the house, extending invitations, and figuring out how we will make this holiday new, meaningful, relevant, engaging and holy.  In the past, we’ve asked our guests to bring questions or objects that represent freedom to them.  We’ve done impromptu skits (using props like brooms, stuffed animals, masks and dolls), played “Who wants to be a millionaire” using Passover questions, conducted interviews, and played charades.  I love buying props like plastic frogs, rubber locusts and ping pong balls for our 10 plagues.  We sing old songs like Dayenu, along with new songs like “Take us all out of Egypt” to the tune of “Take me out to the ballgame”.  We give out prizes like kosher bubble gum or bubbles in a frog for the best question.  We’ve made Passover fortune cookies out of matzah.  For us, Passover is more than a holiday meal, it’s an EVENT.

All of the special items on the Seder plate and ritual elements are designed to engage participants in questions, discussion and drama.  At our Seder we love questions, but the one question we never want to hear is:  Is it time to eat yet?!

There are now so many resources to help us design the most meaningful experience for the young and not so young.  Check out:  http://bangitout.com/ and http://opensourcehaggadah.com/ in addition to the wonderful resources myjewishlearning.com is providing on our website.

Even the iphone is in on the action this year.  There is now a new ap called iMah Nishtanah,  for those who want to learn the 4 questions in time for Seder.

The moon will soon be growing full once again.  It’s time to get in high gear and figure out how March 29^th, 2010, will be different from all other nights!