Clergy Blog

Shabbat Shalom,

I just returned yesterday from a sunny week in Siesta Key, Florida. Despite leaving Minnesota 12 years ago, I am a midwesterner at heart, and midwesterners go to the west coast of Florida. But still, Florida is Florida. We stayed just off the beach next to a small dock called “patriot’s pier.” On the pier there was a prominently raised American flag flanked by one flag from each branch of the military. 

The main benefit of the west coast of Florida are the sunsets over the water. Naturally on our first night, we went out on the balcony to take in the end of the day. As the sun was setting, about 30 or so people gathered at patriot’s pier for a short flag ceremony. It was very simple: A man with a microphone and speaker playing some americana selections, lowering the flag for the evening, and going around acknowledging those present who served in the military and their specific branch. The whole thing took 20 minutes, if that. The next night when we caught the sunset, same ceremony. And the night after that, and the night after that. By our fourth night, we went out to see the ceremony. It quickly became part of our nightly routine. I don’t regularly listen to God bless America, nor do I typically honor the military each night, but for the past week, we looked on every night from our deck.

A funny thing can happen when one experiences ritual, a series of regular behavior. Ritual opens us up to conversations, experiences, and realities that may be totally unconnected to the ritual itself. That’s the power of ritual. I didn’t spend my nights in Florida contemplating the armed forces, but the ritual of patriot’s pier brought all of us together each night for the sunset, and kept us out long past (until we had to put the baby to bed).

Judaism centers a ritual way of life, we call it halacha, as a foundational pillar of what it means to live Jewishly. Halacha often gets translated as “Jewish law,” but more literally it means something like “the way to walk,” or simply, “the path,” and it is bursting with ritual moments that serve to center us and insert spirituality into our lives: morning blessings, Shabbat services, lighting shabbat candles, and giving tzedakah are just a few. 

Ritual is not just about “doing the thing” - it is about creating a sense of belonging, anchoring us in the present, and transforming the ordinary into something special. I don’t contemplate the military victory of the Maccabees every night over Hanukkah (some nights, sure), but I do cherish those moments around the menorah, taking in the light with friends and family. One can only really appreciate the 8th night if you’ve lit the past seven. 

Some upcoming highlights at TBA:

Purim is on March 13th and join us for our all-ages Wickedly Awesome Purim party, beginning with pizza at 5:00pm - it’s great every year! Hope to see you there.

March 30th is the TBA CommUNITY mitzvah day with Federation. Our theme: TBA Tackles Hunger. We are hosting three great mitzvah opportunities at TBA, all occurring simultaneously, making breakfast, lunch, and dinner for food insecure families in our area. The whole program is from 10am-12pm, includes breakfast for participants, and a short learning on food insecurity. We hope you can join us for this important mitzvah! To register: https://www.tbanj.org/FORM/TBATACKLESHUNGER

Shabbat Shalom,

Max