The Charlotte Jewish News - October 1998 - Page 2
In My Opinion.
By Amy Krakovitz Montoni
It’s obviously not too early to
start talking about that holiday that
comes in December. We already
started talking about it on August
25 when the Charlotte-
Mecklenburg School system pre
sented their policy on religion in
the schools at a meeting held at the
Jewish Community Center. The
contents of that policy and a report
on that meeting can be found on
page 4, but these paragraphs are
my place to express my opinion—
not of the policy, but of the reaction
that members of this community
have to expressions of Christmas in
school.
Back in the 1930’s, a little girl
named Louise Carey attended the
Boston Public Schools. In her ele
mentary school, as in all elemen
tary schools at the time, she was
required to begin the day with a
prayer. Not just any prayer, or a
silent prayer, but all the children
were required to say and memorize
the Lord’s Prayer. Now, Louise was
a Jewish girl, one of many in her
class, but she said the prayer
because she had to. Did that change
her life? Did that make her con
vert? Did that make her feel left
out, singular, different? No to all of
the above. To quote her today, “I
knew what I was. I was a Jew.
Nothing they made me say could
change that.”
That little girl grew up to
become my mother. So, when I was
in 3rd grade and Miss Sullivan very
politely asked the parents of the
Jewish children if they had any
objection to their children singing
Christmas carols in class, my
mother’s response was essentially
the same: “Sing whatever you
want. You are a Jew. Nothing you
say or sing is going to change that.”
(She was right.)
So now here we are today. I am
the mother. I have two Jewish chil
dren who have it even tougher than
I did as a kid. First of all, they’re
being raised in the south where
Christianity is a far more vocal
religion than where I was brought
up, and their last name is not tradi
tionally considered a “Jewish
name.” But when the teachers
bring out those pine needles and
reindeer after Thanksgiving, and
they ask my first grader to count
the balls on the tree, I just don’t
think his whole life is going to
change. I don’t think he’ll cry
because Chanukah is not included
in the curriculum and I don’t think
the decorations in the room will
cause him to want to convert. I am
certain he will ask for the millionth
time why we don’t have a
Christmas tree. I always asked that
question, too. My answer will be
the same as my mother’s, that we
are Jews, we don’t celebrate
Christmas, we have our own
unique and wonderful holidays and
if you want to see a Christmas tree,
go next door.
It just seems to me that we get
too uptight about tiny little unim
portant details. Here is what is
important: that your children are
getting a good rounded secular
multi-cultural education in public
school and that you provide your
children with a solid base of love of
Judaism and pride in their
Jewishness.
So here's whfit you do when your
children bring home the Santa
Claus faces and the Christmas
stars: bring them to synagogue
Friday night or Saturday morning;
light your candles Friday at sun
down (candle lighting times are
always listed in this publication);
tell your children stories from your
family holiday experiences; always
remind your children to be proud of
their Judaism and their heritage.
No amount of ornaments or stories
or even prayers can take that away
from them. ^
Synagogue in Atlanta charts new path
to religious pluralism
By Debra Nussbaiim Cohen
NEW YORK (JTA) - An exper
iment in religious pluralism is
unfolding in Atlanta, where a new
synagogue is bringing together,
under one roof, Jews connected
with each of the four main move
ments of Judaism - Orthodox,
Conservative, Reform and
Reconstructionist.
The newly established
Congregation Shema Yisrael cur
rently meets in a hotel and works
like this: The various groups of
worshippers gather, each in their
own space, with their own prayer
books and Torah scroll, in a ball
room divided into separate sec
tions with movable walls.
After their respective prayer
services end, they open the divid
ing walls, rearrange the chairs
and, together, listen to each rabbi
and prayer leader present a brief
sermon. A discussion ensues, and
then they share kiddush.
Orthodox/traditional and Con
servative groups meet each week.
The Reform group gathers three
out of four Sabbaths. On the
fourth, a Reconstructionist havu-
rah lakes its place.
Call it “multiplex Judaism.”
It is an idea whose time has
come, says the rabbi and creator of
the concept, Juda Mintz.
“Everyone’s talking about Jewish
pluralism but not doing anything
about it,” he said. “This, I pray,
will be a model for others.”
It is apparently the first such
Congregation ever created, though
a similar approach regularly takes
place on college campuses under
Hillel’s aegis — the model that
Mintz says inspired him.
A recent Shabbaton on the
Amherst campus of the University
of Massachusetts similarly
brought together Jews from each
of the movements — but it was for
a single Sabbath, rather than as an
ongoing effort.
To be sure, there are a few syn
agogues that accommodate two
different styles of worship. For
instance, in the wake of discord
over the issue of women being
called to read from the Torah,
some Conservative synagogues
have split off into egalitarian and
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traditional services.
But never have any of the
sources contacted for this story
ever heard of a pointedly multi-
denominational and ostensibly
permanent effort like Shema
Yisrael.
“There is a great hunger for
unity,” said Rabbi Harold
Schulweis of Conservative syna
gogue Valley Beth Shalom, in
Encino, Calif., when called for
comment. “There is a revulsion
against the apartheid that exists
among Jewish denominations.”
But it is also a sign of these ten
dentious times that when contact
ed, senior executives at two major
Orthodox organizations, one cen
trist Orthodox and the other fer
vently Orthodox, both reacted
with enthusiasm - privately, that
is.
Neither was willing to say any
thing publicly supportive of the
Atlanta effort.
“Mintz is a visionary. It’s a bril
liant idea, though truthfully I can’t
congratulate him publicly on
founding non- Orthodox minyan-
im,” said the centrist Orthodox
executive. “If I did. I’d be cruci
fied.”
Point of View
Each issue of the CJN
features an article written by
one of three rabbis active in
the Charlotte Community.
This Month:
|{;ihl)i .liin lUMinctt of
Icniplc Iktli I I
A Moment of Holiness
The story is told of two brothers who lived on two sidesi of a hill
top long ago. One brother was married and had a largel^ly, while
the other was single and lived alone. Each brother a large ivm
with crops growing throughout the sumnu»r months.
One year, as the fall and the harvest season j^roached, each
brother set out to begin the harvesting of the bountiful crops. As it
happened, one night, the married brodier woke up in the middle of
the night and said to his wife, “My brothor has no one to he^p him
harvest his crops. He will never be able to gather enou^ lor the
winter. I have so much help and so much extra. Surely I can do an
act of kindness for him and help him harvest his ftelj^.” Thioking
that he would do this act in secret, he arose in the night and teft to
harvest his brother’s field, leaving the piles of food near his broth
er’s bam.
The next evening, after a long day of harvesting, the single broth
er noticed how much food he had gathered. That night, he awoke
and thought to himself, “I am all alone. I will never be able to use
all of this food. My brother, on the other hand, has a large family to
feed. 1 think I’ll bring some of it to him.” Deciding to do this act of
kindness in secret, he arose in the middle of the night, and delivered
it to his brother’s bam.
The third day, each brother thought to himself, “Even with all I
have given my brother, I still have plenty for the winter. I will share
even more with my brother.” Each brother arose in the middle of the
night and left to climb the hill to his brother's farm, to share some
of his harvest.
Suddenly, at the top of the hill, the two brothers, arms loaded with
sheaves of grain, collided, and realized what had been going on.
According to the legend, the brothers emt»^ed, and on that very
spot years later, the ancient Temple was built. The very simple act
of kindness was a moment of holiness.
A legend? Perhaps. Yet here in Shalom Park, here in Charlotte, we
have many opportunities to make it real. This season of fall, with the
festival of Sul^ot, reminds us as Jews of the fi^gile nature of all of
our lives. Whether it is recognizing that all of us in the Jewish com
munity share a common history and destiny, and must work togeth
er, or whether it is recognizing the needs of the hungry and impov
erished all around us in our world, we have the opportunity to seek
to help our brothers and sisters, our fellow human beings.
The very act of doing so is a moment of holiness.
The fervently Orthodox execu
tive said, with a shade of doubt,
that “it sounds like a prayer mall:
But it fills me with a good feeling
that there’s a place where people
are all sitting and being Jewish
together.”
Shema Yisrael’s Rabbi Mintz,
who was ordained in the fervently
Orthodox Torah V’Daas yeshiva
in Brooklyn, was for 17 years the
spiritual leader of another Atlanta
synagogue, a congregation affili
ated with the Orthodox Union. He
left in June with some 30 families
in tow.
The other unique aspect of his
idea in forming Shema Yisrael is
that it asks for no dues.
Mintz expects congregants to
(Continued on page 14)
Ben & Jerry
come to
Charlotte
Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield
of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream fame
are scheduled to appear at the
Charlotte Convention Center on
October 21, 1998 in conjunction
with the Public Library of
Charlotte and Mecklenburg
County. This Business Book and
Author Lunch will take place at 12
noon. Tickets are $35.00. Call
336-2020 for more information. O
Article deadline for November issue
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