May the New Year
bring to all our friends
and family
health, joy, prosperity and
everything good in life.
Rosh Hashanah
2015
5776
'24
—.., ■ •••••10 P'
Judi Schneider
Brett, Patty,
Caidey, Zack & Caroline,
Bryan, Arryn, Ethan & Avery
Brad, Molly, D.J. & Anna
Brandon, Alexandra
The Rosh Hashanah crew at Adas Shalom Synagogue: Rabbi Jacob Segal,
Morris Hadrick and Cantor Nicholas Fenakel in 1956.
four speakers at last year's inaugural
program where we were asked to
reflect on a transformational moment
in our lives.
To say that it was emotional for
me and the congregants would be an
understatement. It was an experience
that profoundly impacts me to this
day. I will be forever grateful to Rabbi
Yedwab for including me and for hav-
ing the vision to create this amazing
way to bring the New Year in. Mincha
Moments is open to non-members
and is free of charge. Call the temple
office at (248) 661-5700 for details.
Well, that does it for my pre-High
Holiday walk down Memory Lane;
which, by the way, I hear is being
turned into a round-about. I wish you
all a happy, healthy and sweet year
and an especially good parking space
at your synagogue of choice. Ushanah
tovah tikateivu!
ou
!Or
BISTRO
ROYAL OAK
❑
Alan Muskovitz is a writer, voice-over/acting
talent, speaker, emcee and a regular guest
host on the Mitch Albom Show on WJR AM
760. Visit his website at laughwithbigaLcom.
View the menu at www.bistro82.com
For reservations, call 248.542.0082
A
401 S. Lafayette Ave. Royal Oak MI • 248 542 0082 • Bistro82 com
,
ground, images, humorous commentary
and text played on a large television
screen. The service was packed.
"People were laughing and enjoying
themselves — the mood was light, rather
than the heaviness often associated with
services:' she said. "It's not enough to
work with clergy; the people sitting in
the pews need to think changing prayer
culture is possible:'
Still, though others recognize the
problem of growing disengagement, they
believe the solution lies not in chang-
ing the texts, but in re-examining them.
Rabbi Elie Kaunfer, executive director of
Mechon Hadar, stressed the importance
of preserving the traditional liturgy
"Instead of refor-
mulating the words,
we try to reinterpret
the words in order
to connect:' said
Kaunfer, who holds
a doctorate in liturgy
from JTS.
"How we perform
Rabbi Kaunfer
the words oftentimes
has much more to
do with our experience of prayer than
the words themselves," he said. Melody
and the "sound field of a synagogue," the
noises present in between prayers, deep-
ly impact the experience of prayer. "If we
are thoughtful about sounds, prayer can
be experienced very differently:'
While many people choose to substi-
tute English for the traditionally Hebrew
prayers, Kaunfer stressed the "power of
praying in Hebrew:'
"Whether or not you understand the
words, there is a rhythm and mystery
to the traditional Hebrew liturgy:' he
said. He gave the example of Kol Nidrei,
the service recited at the start of Yom
Kippur, and the Mourner's Kaddish.
"It's not something everyone can fully
understand, but the meter of the words
in Hebrew has a powerful force:'
Still, both Uhrbach and Kaunfer
agree that the search for meaning in
prayer, though far from a new issue, is
a pressing one. Uhrbach, who served
on the editorial committee of Mahzor
Lev Shalem: Rosh Hashanah and Yom
Kippur, a prayer book for the High
Holidays, and who is in the process of
editing a full-length siddur, said that
directing the Block/Kolker Center feels
like a circle closing.
"Heschel worked tirelessly to revive
prayer and to remind us what prayer
could be. His teachings reached me, and
now I'm trying to do the same. I hope to
bring that conversation back to JTS."
Wishing our clients and friends
a happy and healthy New Year!
From the staff of
Elite Networking
& Consulting
Elite Networking & Consulting
0 3 4 3 0 0
May the coming year be filled with
health and happiness for all our family and friends.
L'Shanah Tovah!
Harvey & Marilyn Saperstein
❑
JN
September 10 • 2015
69