Here we are in the last Jewish month of our calendar, Elul. Elul is the month that leads us into the Yamim No’ra-im, The Days of Awe, or better known in English “The High Holidays.” Elul is traditionally a time of introspection: a period during which we prepare for the High Holidays by beginning the process of teshuvah.

How can we begin to prepare for the upcoming days of awe? There are several rituals associated with the month of Elul including the recitation of Psalms, specifically Psalm 27 (listen to an excerpt here=>Achat Sha’alti – from Psalm 27) and prayers of forgiveness (slichot). It is also customary during the month of Elul to point our mind towards others by giving tzedakah to those in need. A favorite Elul ritual of mine is to blow the shofar daily – a single tekiah blast to wake our hearts and minds to the task of teshuvah. While Rosh Hashanah is weeks away, during Elul, we can start greeting each other with the traditional greetings shanah tova & chatimah tovah, wishing each other a good year with the hope that we are written into the Book of Life for goodness.

The High Holiday season itself, the Days of Awe, formally begins with Slichot, a service of penitential prayers and readings that takes place on the Saturday night prior to Rosh Hashanah. Please join us this year on Saturday, September 5 for our Slichot gathering at TBHBA. We will conclude Shabbat together with Havdalah and then share in a meaningful service aimed at preparing our hearts and minds for the awe-filled season ahead. It is also a lovely occasion to gather together with each other.
I look forward to all of us coming together for all of our Holiday services. This year, thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor in our congregation, we will be worshiping from Mishkan HaNefesh, the Reform Movement’s current machzor, published in 2015. Please join me on Shabbat morning 8/22 for an introduction to this first machzor published by the Reform Movement since 1978!

I am very grateful for our congregation’s Ritual Committee headed by Stephen Freed and inclusive of Merle Silver, Eileen Fisher, and Harvey Freidman for all of their work to help me and our congregation prepare for these awe-filled High Holiday days ahead. I look forward to worship with you and engaging in thoughtful discussions.
As of this writing, the topics for this year’s High Holiday services are:
Erev Rosh Hashanah: Holding Space for Memory (Reflections on 9/11)
Rosh Hashanah morning: Artificial Intelligence: Is it “intelligent”: A Jewish Perspective
Erev Yom Kippur: A Story on the Power of Words
Yom Kippur: The Futile Quest for Immortality

Rabbi Rhoda Harrison

Reflections on Ritual

The Month of Elul – Preparing for the High Holy Days – 5787

– Stephen Freed

The Hebrew month of Elul precedes Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. It generally coincides with August in the secular calendar, but Elul has special significance in Jewish tradition. It is a time when we prepare ourselves for self-reflection and teshuvah, returning to our better selves, in the coming High Holy Days. Traditionally, the shofar is blown at every morning service, some say to awaken our souls, perhaps to create a sense of expectation in the silence before each blast, or possibly to express what we cannot put into words. It has been said that through the shofar we send cries of longing across the universe.

During Elul we have a tradition of wishing each other a shana tovah, a good year, in anticipation of the year that will begin on Rosh Hashana, literally the “head of the year.” There is a tradition of visiting the graves of parents and others who have made our very existence possible. We remember the past, events and feelings, as we transition to a new year. At the end of Elul – the week before Rosh Hashana, we say special prayers to ask for forgiveness. Many congregations have midnight services. At TBH-BA we will be gathering after sunset on September 5 for our Slichot service.

As we begin our work toward teshuvah, I’d like to share two prayers that I find particularly meaningful, and may perhaps resonate with you as well. Both are found in Mishkan Halev, Prayers for S’lichot and the Month of Elul, published by CCAR, the rabbinic organization of the Reform movement.

The first is an excerpt from “A Time for Turning” by Rabbi Jack Riemer.

“ . . . for leaves, birds and animals turning comes instinctively. But for us turning does not come so easily. It takes an act of will to make a turn. It means breaking with old habits. It means admitting that we have been wrong; and this is never easy. It means losing face; it means starting all over again; and this is always painful. It means saying: I am sorry. It means recognizing that we have the ability to change. These things are terribly hard to do. But unless we turn, we will be trapped forever in yesterday’s ways. God, help us to turn – from callousness to sensitivity, from hostility to love, from pettiness to purpose, from envy to contentment, from carelessness to discipline, from fear to faith. Turn us around and bring us back toward You. Revive our lives, as at the beginning. And turn us toward each other – for in isolation there is no life.”

The second prayer is called “V’ahavata for Elul,” a poetic interpretation of “v’ahavata,” Deuteronomy 6: 5-9, which we recite with the Shema.
You shall love the ones who are close
with all your heart,
with all your spirit,
with all your strength.

Remember these words, inscribe them on your heart:
love them when they struggle,
when they sadden and disappoint you;
love them when they fail.

See the good within them, even when they can’t.
Look at them, and listen, even when it is hard.
Be grateful for their guidance (even their reproof)
when they save you from yourself.

Love them when they give you joy,
and love them when they don’t.
When you lie down, let go of anger.
When you rise up at dawn, begin again.

Praise them for their deeds at home;
Speak to them in public with respect.

Bind yourself to the ones you love
with promises kept and vows fulfilled.

Open to them the gates of your heart, the doorway of your soul –
and let them know you.
So shall the ones you cherish feel your love, your presence, and your care.

Looking forward to seeing you at slichot and High Holy Day services. May the new year bring you joy, meaning, good health and much happiness. Shana tova and zeit gezunt!

Stephen Freed
On behalf of the TBH-BA ritual committee

What A Remarkable Journey

In 1986, a group of young Jewish couples in the greater Vineland area, were worshiping at their respective Congregations in Carmel and Rosenhayn, for the High Holidays. We all had children who joined us for the traditional services, polishing it off with the Yom Kippur Tekiyah G’dolah, wishing for a sweet and healthy New Year, followed by a break the fast meal.

Our children were all about the same age. We were convinced there was a better way to practice our faith and initiated discussions of committing to a way to educate and train our kids to be better Jews. Little did we realize how much of an impact it would have on us adults too.

An interview with the head of the Reform movement out of Philadelphia resulted in a couple things that would guide us to the remarkable Congregation that has evolved since our inception in 1986.

Rabbi Richard Address became the pied piper of our group in 1986 as did our Cantor Marlena.  We educated our children in our own Hebrew school, and merged our congregations in Carmel, at the formerly historic Orthodox schul, Congregation Beth Hillel, built in 1908.

And so the journey began.

Our children were Bar/Bat Mitzvah, our women’s group did a B’NotMitzvah to celebrate this late in life celebration. We had marriages, funerals, celebrations and grew from a group of 8 families to over 86 family units today.

In 2008, we merged with the Bridgeton Beth Abraham synagogue. They had money and few people. We had people and little money, and so this shiddach led to a remarkable “Kehillah Kedushah” ever since. The larger crowds and the Beth Abaham dawry, enabled us to build Stotter Hall, to better accommodate our needs. We never looked back and have not had any regrets.

In 2001 we hired a great Rabbi, Bradley Bleefeld, who, for the next 23 years, led us in prayer and inspired us to practice our faith and traditions with great enthusiasm and wisdom. He led us on two missions to Israel in 2016 and 2019. In 2024 he decided to retire.  We honored him with Emeritus status.  He recently passed. May he rest in peace.  Shortly thereafter, our Cantor since inception in 1986, Marlena Taenzer, was recognized for her marvelous service and dedication and became Emerita as well.

The most extraordinary thing about our congregation is the feeling in our family that we all belong.

We are a group of mostly non-traditional Jews who all believe in the tenants of our faith, in each other and have a great to desire to help humankind.

We have been most fortunate to hire a new spiritual leader. Since 2024, Rabbi/Cantor Rhoda Harrison has continued all of our traditions and has added a new dimension to our faith. We updated our prayer book, we do traditional Torah study, we meet regularly for Shabbat services and Holidays in person as well as by ZOOM.

We have just launched our new website and will hopefully attract people interested in practicing their faith amongst non-judgemental fellow congregants, who thoroughly enjoy each other’s company and help one another thru the ups and downs of life.

Come and join us in prayer and practice our beautiful traditions. No commitments necessary. If you like what you see, you’ll come back and want to be a part of our “Kehiilah Kedushah”

Feel free to reach out to me, your President or Merle Silver, our membership chair, if you have any questions by phone or email. If you want to speak to our Rabbi, she would be pleased to accommodate you.

B’Sha lom

M, Jay Einstein President  856 9827707 JEinstein@FT.NewYorkLife.com

Merle Silver Membership Chair 609 364 3164 MZSilver414@gmail.com

Rabbi Rhoda Harrison Rabbi/Cantor 443 286 705L  RhojHarrison@gmail.com

The holiday of liberation.  It’s spring – and this season of renewal brings Passover, hag ha-aviv.   It’s a holiday of hope and rebirth. We know it, too, as zman heirutainu, the season of our liberation, because its central message is our redemption from slavery. Passover reminds us that no matter what our situation, there is hope for redemption. With this, I share some observations on a few of my favorite aspects of Pesach, which for me along with countless others, is the most enjoyable holiday in the Jewish year.

Our story; the seder.  The story of our exodus from bondage in Egypt is well known. But the genius of Passover is the timelessness and timeliness of the story, which we retell at the seder, in a ritual framework designed to highlight the character of Jewish memory. We encourage discussion about the story of liberation and how we live today.  We start the seder by remembering the events of the past; this helps us understand the possibilities of the present, particularly the unfinished work of liberating all who are still oppressed. Just as God redeemed our ancestors in Egypt – our job is to ask, “What changes should we work for in the world when we leave the seder table?”

No one who has ever sat at a seder table can forget the experience, which by many accounts is the oldest surviving ritual in the Western world. We sit around the table, surrounded by ritual symbols and the text of the Haggadah. And we discuss, question and learn how and why we observe the holiday. The seder invites us to ask questions, and makes it possible to engage and explore in a way that is rare in any other setting.   We all own the story. Each generation reshapes it and passes it forward. And the story of liberation stays relevant and alive.

Matzo: the bread of affliction.  Early in the seder we recite a paragraph which begins with the words “Ha Lachma.”  It says:  “This is the bread of affliction that our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt. Let all who are hungry come and eat.  This year we are here. Next year may we be in the land of Israel. This year we are slaves. Next year may we be free.”    The message is a compelling one: throughout the seder, we discuss, question, debate and enjoy our meal, but above all, we resolve to take action to feed the hungry and care for those in need, because when one person is enslaved, no one is truly liberated.   Look closely at the text and you’ll see that God isn’t mentioned in Ha Lachma. The rabbis who put the Haggadah together wanted to remind us that it is up to us to take action before redemption can take place.   Everyone who has freedom is responsible to redeem those who aren’t free.

Ma Nishtana:  Perhaps the most beloved centerpiece of the seder is the Ma Nishtana, the Four Questions, traditionally asked by the youngest person who asks four variations on “why is this night different?”  This provokes children and adults to engage, ask harder questions and seek understanding. The expectation of questioning is as old as our origins.  We read in Exodus 13:14, “When in time, your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you will tell him, ‘It was with a mighty hand that the Lord brought us out from Egypt, the house of bondage.’”

The seder exemplifies how we learn. We don’t learn alone; we learn as a community, and the more we question and challenge, the better we can confront what we face.  Sitting around the seder table is a master class in how this is done.

The four sons.  The seder doesn’t sugarcoat history or human nature. For example, the Haggadah tells of the four sons:  when we’re honest with ourselves, we can recognize part of ourselves in the description of each.  At one time or another, each of us can be wise, insolent or naïve, or maybe lacking sufficient knowledge to even know how or what to ask.  Sometimes we want to know every detail of what’s happening; sometimes we’re lost and distracted. Sometimes we might not connect with what’s happening, don’t seek knowledge, but just want to eat.  It’s our obligation to understand the person we wish to connect with and meet them where they are.

We were slaves; we were strangers.  In the seder, we’re in a moment when we reflect on our identity, how we see ourselves, how we conduct ourselves and treat others.  When we say, “We were slaves; we were strangers” we remember the commands of Exodus 22:20 , “You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” This is a recurring theme of biblical literature.  It’s no accident that the Torah admonishes us about the treatment of strangers no fewer than 36 times, one of the clearest expressions being in Exodus 23:9: “You shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the feelings of the stranger, having yourselves been strangers in the Land of Egypt.” No other commandment is repeated so often.

Next year in Jerusalem.  The seder begins and ends with the hope that next year we will all be free and in Jerusalem. Some view this literally, but for many Jerusalem symbolizes our personal and national fulfillment, and our hope next year to be in a place where there is joy, peace, redemption, and a commitment to build a better world.  The ritual of the seder ends, but we are now directed to do something harder:  to begin the work of redemption, making the world a better place.

To all:  Chag Sameach. Have a wonderful Passover. Enjoy your seder and family tradtions.  A zisn, koshern un freilikhen Pesach!    Stay healthy and strong.  Zeit gezunt un shtark.

On behalf of the TBH-BA ritual committee,

Stephen Freed