Shul News & Notes
“Between a Rock and a Smith Place”
I don’t watch the Oscars, but the slap that Will Smith wielded to Chris Rock’s face is still reverberating. One could ask if it’s worth dedicating a monthly message to this bygone news. Shouldn’t it be relinquished to the pages of history as a negligible episode, especially against the backdrop of current wars and a global pandemic? In other words, shouldn’t we just move on? The answer I gave myself is, no.
It’s important to address these actions because whenever a recognized and well-regarded person does such a thing, he or she sends a wide and ringing message. Will Smith slapped more than one face that night, including his own. The act might have been small, but the cameras are big. After so many years of trying to send a message of non-violence, he slapped the face of the young generation, which I believe, had an unwritten agreement with Hollywood: it’s okay to have violence in our movies and video games, not in real life.
On the other hand, one can claim that violence is sold as entertainment to our young people, so what should we expect? When two out of every three shows or movies are endlessly violent or maintain a violent spirit, it was just a matter of time. Chris Rock might have been surprised, but society shouldn’t be. Regretfully, Will Smith was able to remain in the theater, not immediately escorted outside. And even worse, in order to “save face,” the crowd cheered him a little while later, when he was called to the stage to receive the Oscar as Best Actor. It is a sad moment to applaud.
At the end of the movie, “A Time to Kill,” a black man stands trial for murdering the two rednecks who raped his daughter. His defense attorney, played by Matthew McConaughey, is recapping for the jury what happened to the young Black girl that day, while asking them to close their eyes and imagine it. And then at the end of his gory account, he asks them to imagine she was a white girl. Now, can you imagine Will Smith slapping a woman? Or if he had slapped a white man? What would have happened if a white man had slapped Chris Rock? Would we have reacted the same way?
Slapping occurs several times in the Bible, always in a degrading rebuke for something that shouldn’t have been said or seen. For those still trying to rationalize Smith’s actions, and whether Chris Rock crossed a line — whether he deserved a slap in the face for what he saw, or a smack on the mouth for what was said — Will Smith became at once the plaintiff, the judge, and the executioner. Another example of lawlessness and bullying, in a world already saturated with violence.
Think of Moses striking the other famous rock. For this act of defiance, God denied him entry to the Holy Land. In the Hollywood story, Will Smith was dismissed from the Academy. He, too, will have to gaze at it from afar.
May this spring bloom with peace.
—Rabbi Gadi Capela
“The Mythical Power of Pesach and Spring”
As we prayed for peace and joy this Pesach, we were surrounded by the comfort of the traditions we hold so dear — the warm embrace of our shul family, and the visible new beginnings of spring. What a joy it is to discover the surprises as they emerge: the bright yellows of daffodils, the purples of hyacinths, and the halos of forsythia. All become part of the mythical power and experience of Passover.
May the pleasures of the season and a zissen Pesach continue to bring joy.
—Judith K. Weiner
Lunch and Learn, Ellen Buchbinder, MD, “Spring Allergies, Achoo!”
Are you sneezing, coughing, and weeping with itchy, watery eyes? Spring allergies got you down? Lunch and Learn to the rescue.
Zoom at noon this Monday, May 2, when shul member Ellen Buchbinder, MD, will talk about spring allergies — treatments, medications, remedies and, for fun, some old wives tales with, well, questionable results. It just doesn’t seem fair that some people can bury their faces in tree pollens and mold spores, and others can barely step outside.
Ellen is a graduate of Wellesley College and Tulane University School of Medicine. She completed a residency at New England Deaconess Hospital in Boston, and a fellowship in allergy and immunology at Massachusetts General Hospital. Prior to retirement, she was an associate professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Allergy and Clinical immunology at Mt. Sinai Medical Center in New York, and in private practice for 38 years.
Zoom at noon for answers to your questions about…
(ah, ah, achoo)…spring allergies.
A Holocaust Remembrance: Let’s Light Our Yellow Candles Together
By now, most of you will have found a yellow candle in your mailbox, or can expect one to be hand-delivered soon. This candle is your invitation to participate in the Yellow Candle Project, a global program to commemorate the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Shul members will meet on Zoom on Wednesday, April 27, at 7:30 p.m., to join with people throughout the world to light our candles in a communal act of remembrance.
The Yellow Candle Project is a joint effort by our shul’s Sisterhood, headed by Adrianne Greenberg, and the Men’s Club, headed by Tom Byrne, to observe Holocaust Remembrance Day in a way that touches all of us in our own homes, a reminder of the homes and families destroyed during this dark time in Jewish history. Included with each candle is the name of a child who died in the Holocaust. May your prayers for the six million include a special remembrance for this individual life lost.
The candles are free, thanks to a generous donation by one of our members. Should you wish to acknowledge your gift candle with a charitable donation, the Sisterhood and Men’s Club are suggesting the Blue Card Foundation, an organization that provides food, healthcare and other basic needs to indigent Holocaust survivors.
To contribute to the Blue Card Foundation, visit the shul’s website, click on the “donate” tab, identify Blue Card as the recipient, and the shul will forward all donations to the charity.
Lunch and Learn on April 4: Compelling Story Of An Unlikely Marriage
Shul members and guests are invited to Zoom at noon on Monday, April 4, to welcome guest presenter Warren Goldstein for a compelling program based on his personal experience in an unlikely interfaith marriage. Warren Goldstein is the Jewish spouse of the Rev. Donna Schaper, pastor of the Orient Congregational Church. This program, originally scheduled in January 2022, was postponed due to a death in the Goldstein family.
Aspects of the talk will include efforts to honor both religious traditions, the b’nai mitzvot of their children, the religious education of their grandchildren, the family name issue from Luria to Goldstein, and interfaith life today.
Warren Goldstein is professor of history emeritus at the University of Hartford, the author or co-author of six books, and a widely published essayist.
Join Lunch and Learn on the first Monday of every month for programs that inspire and amaze.
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