The Well Connected Rabbi and Congregation

March 13th, 2010

Social media is the wave of the future. A session at the most recent CCAR Convention challenged us to explore how Facebook and other social media can be entry-points for community and tools to increase connection.

Facebook (twitter, etc. etc) is a river. While it is difficult to have a constant stream of information flowing by, through, and around us, if we do not enter the stream, then we will not be able to meet our congregants when they choose to “dip” in to the great Facebook river.

Facebook is a conduit for connection and is often less “scary” as a first point of contact than a synagogue or a formal Jewish educational experience.  It is another way that people in every generation can link in to “their people,”  Am-LNJC (The People of the Lake Norman Jewish Congregation), and therefore also the larger Jewish People.

So, congregants, please join Facebook and link with me.  Join our community’s facebook group. Help us share the dynamic congregation we are literally building.

I hope to use Facebook to enhance our communal impact here in the Lake Norman and Charlotte region, and across North Carolina. When people are thinking about a geographical move, they should know that a new, loving community is based here in Davidson.

Some links to have:

Our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=56271990719&ref=ts

My Blog, The Lake Norman Rabbi: www.mjshields.com

Our Causes Page on Facebook:  http://apps.facebook.com/causes/birthdays/286147?m=d1bec4b9

The Reform Congregation of Lake Norman

March 4th, 2010

I feel so lucky to be the full-time rabbi of the Reform Congregation in Lake Norman (www.lakenormanjc.org) but also to be a part of a community in the Lake Norman region that is blessed with a liberal/Reform and a conservative choice.

If one is a Conservative Jew, Beth Shalom of Lake Norman can provide an intimate setting in which more traditional and ritually conservative Jews can connect and find support in navigating the ins and outs of Conservative Judaism (dietary laws, halakhah, t’fillin, mikveh, etc.)

Our Reform/liberal Congregation (as written in the Movement’s Statement of Principles) enables  the Jewish People and individuals to embrace “innovation while preserving tradition, to embrace diversity while asserting commonality, to affirm beliefs without rejecting those who doubt, and to bring faith to sacred texts without sacrificing critical scholarship.”

Reform Judaism recognizes the realities that Jews face in the 21st century, and seeks to facilitate authentic connection with Jewish culture, religion, and tradition.  Reform Judaism helps individuals and families as they strive for religious meaning, moral purpose and a sense of community.

See the following link for the full “Statement of Principles of the Reform Movement” adopted in Pittsburgh in 1999.

http://ccarnet.org/Articles/index.cfm?id=44&pge_prg_id=4687&pge_id=1656

An Excerpt from “A Commentary on the Principles of Reform Judaism”

The rise in mixed marriage and the embrace of Jews of patrilineal descent (children of one Jewish parent who were raised as Jews) had changed the demographics of the Reform Movement, contributing to a growing desire for increased learning, spiritual expression, and guidelines for Reform ideology. Women’s increased influence in the Movement (from three women ordained in 1976 the number had grown to over 250 by 1999) had changed much of the language and approach of Reform, and the Movement had pioneered in opening doors of Jewish life (including ordination) to gay and lesbian Jews.

Reform Judaism is moving forward and can lead the way in revitalizing Judaism in the 21st century.

Reform Judaism is committed to:

The complete equality of women and men in Jewish life.

Reaching out to all Jews across ideological and geographical boundaries.

Inclusivity: providing a home for all who seek a Jewish experience.  Our movement is enriched by those who choose to convert to Judaism and the non-Jewish partners raising Jewish children.

For the full text see:  http://ccarnet.org/Articles/index.cfm?id=45&pge_prg_id=4687&pge_id=1656

I look forward to the months and years ahead as we build a vibrant Jewish congregation, with a home of our own, in the Lake Norman and North Charlotte region.  Join us on this adventure: www.lakenormanjc.org.

If you are looking for a conservative congregation Beth Shalom of Lake Norman is a loving and warm congregation: www.bslkn.org


Miracles

March 3rd, 2010

“The early Rabbis (200-600 AD) affirmed the truth of the miracles in the Bible, yet still had trouble accepting miracles that violated the laws of nature. They resolved this tension by explaining that the miracles were in fact natural events engineered by God. For example, God planned the earthquake that would bring down the walls of Jericho. Some Jewish thinkers (Saadiah Gaon and Maimonides) posited that descriptions of miracles were not meant to be taken literally. They were instead meant to reflect a prophetic experience of dream or vision. We can view miracles in the Bible in a metaphorical or allegorical manner.

On a practical level, I personally believe that we bring about miraculous events through our partnership with others and our sense of holiness (God) in our lives as we perform sacred acts of Tikkun Olam (repairing the world). Miracles require that we do our part. ‘Pray as if everything depends on God but then act as if everything depends on you.’”

Vision for the future: Join us for a Unique Communal Adventure

February 18th, 2010

It has been almost two years since I found out that I would join the Lake Norman Jewish Congregation (www.lakenormanjc.org) as its first full-time Rabbi.  The relationship between congregation and rabbi has been more enriching and meaningful than I ever imagined. Together we have taken crucial steps in building a Jewish community.

The congregation has grown from 55 families and 45 students in the religious school to nearly 120 families and 75 children in the religious school. Our worship has matured and we are well on our way to a vibrant and diverse musical tradition that embraces both traditional melodies and music from contemporary Jewish song writers.  Educational opportunities are born every day; ‘Taste of Judaism’ class, adult Hebrew, and our ‘Torah Reborn: Bursting the Biblical Bubble’ Torah Study.  Other opportunities are in the development stage, including; “Torah on Tap:  Bible and a Brew,”  ”Sex in the Texts: Jewish Views of Sexuality and Intimacy”,  ”Vices in Biblical and Rabbinic Literature,”  and “Reel Theology: An exploration of Jewish Theological and Philosophical Themes in Film.”  We are also developing learning opportunities for interfaith couples, new parents, and grandparents.

Our community is literally bursting with new ideas, enthusiasm, and hopes for the future; hopes for our children, our teenagers, our adults, our retirees. We have many dreams; dreams of a unified liberal Jewish community in the Lake Norman region – one which builds a powerful foundation that will endure for generations.  Dreams of a community home – a beit midrash, a house of study, a beit sefer, a school, and a beit t’filah, a house of prayer.

We have a vision, we have a sound strategic plan, and we have the critical mass to succeed. My hope is that all in the community will want to be a part of and contribute to this vision. A unified Jewish community will best be able to serve the needs of all.

We are building a powerful community model and hope all will walk with us on this meaningful adventure. The possibilities are endless.

An inspirational quotation about pursuing our destiny

January 28th, 2010


Patrick Overton Watch your thoughts they become words. Watch your words they become actions. Watch your actions they become habits. Watch your habits they become character. Watch your character it becomes your destiny.

Searching for your Spiritual Self – Healthy Spiritual Living

January 27th, 2010

When the New Year comes, many people think about starting an exercise program, joining a book club or making some other self-improvement change. What do our clery suggest people resolve to do in the New Year?

There is some sort of disconnect between the question and the part of my response that Cornelius Today printed. Nevertheless, below are some thoughts on Living a Spiritual Life:

I would suggest people attempt to address some of the big spiritual questions in life.  A spiritual life is about looking at oneself and being willing to explore in some way the three fundamental questions we often obscure with all the ’stuff’ in our lives.

1) Why was I born? – Is there a plan for me? Who came up with it? Is it predetermined or do I have control?

2) Why must I die? – How is it decided who shall live and who shall die? How do I grapple with my own mortality on a daily basis?

3) Why am I here? — What is my purpose in the world?

No one religious tradition has an exclusive claim on the many truths in the world. I would challenge every person to wrestle with that which she cannot understand or explain. In order to deepen our spiritual life in the year to come, we must be willing to question all that we think we know, make room for new possibilities and engage in serious intellectual study.

“Clown Doctors in Israel”

January 25th, 2010

A great story passed along to me by my mother:

This 6 minute video about the creation of ‘Clown Doctors’ and the wonderful things they are doing as part of the medical team in children’s hospitals throughout Israel is really something special! Israel, so often the trailblazer for good, has taken a poignant and unique idea to a powerful new level. Imagine a Bachelor of Arts in Clowning? They are now working on a Masters Degree!

Check out the story on CNN:

http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/international/2009/12/28/vital.signs.medical.clowning.cnn.html


Abraham H. Friedland: A Stellar Hebrew Educator

January 24th, 2010

Here is a blog entry about Abraham H. Friedland, my Rabbinical Thesis subject and a great American Hebrew Educator.

http://larrykaufman.wordpress.com/2010/01/13/remembering-chet-aleph/

Below are links to my thesis on Abraham H. Friedland (Chet Alef)

http://www.mjshields.com/introduction.doc

http://www.mjshields.com/thesis.doc

http://www.mjshields.com/bibliography.doc

Haiti: A Response from the Pulpit (A D’var Torah from Rabbi Leah R. Berkowitz)

January 24th, 2010

An awesome d’var Torah (sermon) about Haiti from a super rabbi in Durham, Leah Rachel Berkowitz. Why write something myself when someone else has written something better than I could.

http://thisiswhatarabbilookslike.wordpress.com/2010/01/25/haiti-a-response-from-the-pulpit/

Shabbat Shalom and happy Secular New Year

January 22nd, 2010

Another Shabbat is upon us, and we have charged into a New Secular Year. It was such a blessing to gather with 40 or so souls for a Shabbat service with Davidson Hillel. The students and some community members gathered before services for a Shabbat dinner of sushi and Pizza and a little text study around the topic of Haiti and what Jewish responses could be. We then proceeded to welcome the Sabbath with joyous song and prayer.

Davidson Hillel continues to grow just as do the Lake Norman Jewish Congregation and the Jewish community at the Lake.  I hope to be writing more and providing links to interesting Jewish topics.  My apologies for not posting very often in the last month.  The development of the Jewish community is progressing at breakneck speed and those developments have made it more difficult to write consistently. Check back more often as I will be writing at least once a week from here on out.

Shabbat Shalom

Donate to the the American Jewish World Service Haiti Relief Fund: https://secure.ajws.org/site/Donation2?df_id=3460&3460.donation=form1