Newsletter:
Summer 2003
Volume 3, Issue 2
The
"Global Village" Congregation | Mazel Tovs
|
Selections from:
Friedman’s Fables |
Summer with the Prophet Isaiah
The
“Global Village” Congregation
Temple Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi
Aryeh Alpern
We dedicate this summer
newsletter to Rabbi Edwin H Friedman, of blessed memory.
The Rabbi was a major contributor to the theory and
practice of family therapy. He was also the Nestor of
Pastoral Counseling, writing Generation to Generation:
Family process in Church and Synagogue, the basic handbook
for clergy who counsel. The Rabbi also heroically took on
the issue of interfaith marriage in his article The Myth
of the Shiksa.
The good Rabbi taught
that we should rejoice in the marriage of an ethical
monotheist to an ethical monotheist. Personally I would
rather my children marry a Catholic or Protestant than an
atheist. I came to these conclusions with the help of my
Rabbinic mentor Rabbi Friedman.
Intermarriage is defined
as the major issue of modern American Jewish life. I
believe the real issue is assimilation. The majority of
modern Jews have no Shabbat because observance is
determined in “Either /Or categories”. Either you do not
drive or you do not have a real Sabbath. Either you do not
answer the telephone or you do not have a Sabbath. Either
you go to synagogue or you do not pray.
Observing Sabbath in the
home is how we experience Shabbat Shalom, the Peace of the
Sabbath. Why do we drive to Temple Friday evenings when a
table service turns our own home into a Sanctuary? Why
should a drive to an art museum or a Saturday afternoon
canoe trip not be acceptable? The Sabbath Blue Laws simply
do not work for the majority of moderns. They simply make
us blue.
The level of anxiety
about Jewish identity in the modern world is remarkable.
Rabbi Friedman taught that paradox and playfulness are the
way to cope with anxiety. I am inspired by him to define
myself as an “under-constructionist” as a Rabbi. This fits
perfectly with Rabbi Friedman’s teaching on process
theology. We are All works in progress.
An amazing story teller
he wrote Friedman’s Fables, which is a great way to
experience his “family process” theology. Three selections
follow-with discussion questions.
Send your responses to RabbiAlpern@aol.com and they will
be posted in the next newsletter. I also recommend the
selections for your Torah Table Talk to keep the fires of
your home Alter (kitchen or dining room table) burning.
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Selections from:
Friedman’s Fables
The Guilford Press New York London Copyright 1990
Selection One:
Freidman’s Fables
“I have long believed that questions are more important
than answers, in part, because they are eternal, while
answers resemble fashions that come and go with age. I
have also treasured questions more than answers because I
believe that in the effort to stimulate growth, the
continual challenge of trying to reframe questions in a
way that promotes fresh vision has a natural superiority
over the struggle to find answers to the way others have
posed them. For questions are perceptions, and the way
they are framed already determines the spectrum of answers
one can possible image.”
Selection One Discussion:
1. Why does a Jew always answer a question with a
question?
2. On a more serious note our Rabbi’s teach that wisdom
begins with the strength of our questions. Our Sages also
defines a wise person as one who learns from everyone.
What are your questions?
3. We all imagine Rabbi’s as experts who answer questions.
I would like to be known as the Rabbi who questions
answers. How do you define the role of the Rabbi?
Selection Two:
Oedipus: Well. For my part, I have been eternally
grateful to Freud for resurrecting me from my stodgy
classicism by showing everyone the universality of my
being.
Faust: This may
shock you, but I, for one, do not believe your story has
survived because you touch something deep in the human
spirit. On the contrary, I think your popularity is due to
the fact that you are a convenient displacement. By
focusing on you, people don’t have to focus on me.
Oedipus: How can
you say that? My name has become synonymous with the
struggle for self-awareness.
Faust: I am the
important myth of civilization that nobody wants to face.
The essential question of human existence is not how your
family did you in; it’s maintaining your integrity. The
Struggle to preserve your own being is far more important
that the issues of how you got to be the way you are. No,
the reason you are popular is not because you are
essential, but because so long as people are fascinated by
your story they don’t have to be reminded of mine. You’ve
become an escape, and therapy, far from being a force for
change let alone a path to salvation, is turning into
civilization’s mechanism of defense.
Selection Two Discussion:
Integrity and Belief
1. What is more critical, how our upbringing determines
who we are or our ability to maintain our integrity?
2. What is the role of ones belief system in the process
of self-actualization?
Selection Three:
“Let me tell you something, Herr Marx, “ said Moses, and
you, too, Dr. Freud- if any of us were to go back today
and speak as we had when we were there, we’d still be
ahead of our time. But it’s getting late, I have to go.”
“Of course,” said Freud,
“services must begin very soon.”
“Oh, that’s not where I’m
going!” exclaimed Moses.
“You’re not?” asked Freud
and Marx.
“No,” said Moses, “I’m
going over to see Spinoza. We’ve been working on a plan to
deal with all this. He’s been helping me write a treatise,
or perhaps it should be called a petition. We’re going to
publish it and call on every one of the world’s religious
founders to sign. We’ve already spoken to Buddha, Lao-tse,
Jesus, Confucius, and Zoroaster.”
“Wow,” said Marx, “I love
manifestos.. What does it say?”
“Basically, it asks
anyone who has ever started a tradition to disavow
completely all followers. It may not change anything, and
it will drive the popes, the lamas, and the kosher
butchers up the wall, but at least it will keep the lines
straight, and it will enable those who want to be true
leaders to get a fresh start. We hadn’t thought of
nonreligious leaders, but after our conversation here I
can see nothing wrong with including the originators of
other systems of salvation.”
Selection Three
Discussion:
Tradition
1. What does it say about the human soul and dilemma that
politics, religion and psychotherapy are so similar in
goal, spirit and structure?
2. To what extent do all systems of salvation move in a
fundamentalist direction when society becomes more anxious
(serious)?
From Rabbi Friedman’s Discussion Questions to Friedman’s
Fables copyright 1990
The Guilford Press
Send comments to RabbiAlpern@aol.com
518-893-0808 * PO Box 53 Porter Corners NY 12859
Top
Mazel
Tovs
2003
Newlyweds
Amanda & Brian- Ohio
Matt & Alisa- Maine
Brian & Cara- Bethlehem
Stu & Colleen – Pittsburgh
Yamini & Ben- Philadelphia
Arthur & Elizabeth- MA
2003 New Born
Jonathan Marcovich
Lucas Dempsey
2003
Newlyweds to be June & July
Jonathan & Emily-MN
Glenn & Marissa-NY
Jonathan & Monica-NY
Michael & Kerri-NY
Melissa & Emile- NY
Susan & Mark-NY
Kevin & Jennifer-CA
Marc & Kate-Connecticut
Newest Congregants
Jason & Tanya
Alysia, Jessica & Florence
Sandi & Jonathan
Mike & Kerri
New Homes
Bob & Anne Marcovich on their move to Texas
Allison & Ben Bowden & Eva and David Toldfelt
Happy
Anniversary-June, July and August
Eva & David
Joe & Wendy
Lisa & Jim
Jamie & Matt
Brett & Arley
Janice & Dan
Wendy & Loal
Hal & Galia
Kristen & Gary
Dan & Kimberly
Michelina & Alec
Michele & Mark
Allison & Mark
Jeremy & Connie
Tracy & Tim
Josh & Rona
Jessica & Paul
Joe & Wendy
Rita & Jason
Matt & Marie
Christine & Ed
Joel & Sonya
Fred & Sarah
Ari & Elizabeth
Lianne & Tony
Top
We’d like to hear
from all of you:
Rabbi & Karen Alpern
518-893-0808 or RabbiAlpern@aol.com
Summer with the Prophet Isaiah
Study Lead by Rabbi Aryeh Alpern
|
July 23 |
Prophecy in Our Time: A Rabbi’s point of view |
|
July 30 |
Isaiah the Great Prophet of Judaism and Christianity |
|
August 6 |
Comforting the Forsaken and Forgotten |
|
August 13 |
Surviving History: Isaiah on the Idolatry of Power |
|
August 27 |
From
Mourning to Rejoicing: The Fulfillment of the
Promise |
|
September 3 |
Isaiah: Zionism |
|
September 10 |
Isaiah’s Vision of the Future |
|
September 24
|
Prophecy and the Call to Return-Isaiah, Hosea, Micah
& Joel |
Suggested text (1) The
Bible- any translation
(2) The Prophets-Abraham J Heschel (First Perennial
Classics 2001)
All classes will be from 7PM to 8PM
The Series will be free to Members of Temple Shabbat
Shalom. For Non-members the fee for the Entire Series is
$50 or specific sessions may be attended for $10 per
session (subject to space availability)
Temple Shabbat Shalom is a non-sectarian,
non-denominational House of Worship and Study. All are
welcome as members.
Please call 893-0808 to
reserve your place – class size is limited to ten.
Temple Shabbat Shalom
340 Plank Road Porter Corners
518-893-0808
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