Shana Tova High Holidays 5778

1185 Sheridan Road aitzhayim@gmail.comGlencoe, IL 60022 www.aitzhayim.org847.835.3232

Erev Rosh Hashana, Day 1 and 2 services will be atthe Highland Park Community House, 1991 Sheridan Road, Highland Park

Kol Nidre and Yom Kippur services will be at Bernard Weinger JCC, 300 Revere Drive, Northbrook

WELCOME 5778

Is anything okay? You know it as the punchline to the joke, “The waiter asks a table of Jews, ‘Is anything OK?’”

But it really represents our most fundamental and traditionalquestion and perspective of living in our world. From Cainquestioning God’s random treat-ment to Abraham arguing with God, and Israelites challenging Moses, to Kohelet wondering what value there is in anything we do, the Bible is always asking, “Isanything OK?” The Talmud, too, questions God’s edicts as therabbis overrule those edicts and Maimonides wonders what to do when reason conflicts with faith. Shalom Aleichem saw pain and gain in the modern world as a challenge to tradition and in Hollywood Jews saw danger in early movies such as Birth of a Nation, and created a Hollywood that would challenge that view of America. We have always been a people dissatisfied with the way things are.

Every year, during the High Holidays, we reflect how we viewourselves, our families and our friends as we seek to addcompassion while developing our critiques. That is our need every year and that is why we engage in the holidays together at every stage of our lives.

But this year has taken on a different urgency. Now,

Our tradition demands that we challenge everything.

in America, “Jews will not replace us” and “Blood and soil” are chanted by neo-Nazis and white supremacists. We hear “love the stranger”, words found in the Torah 36 times, attacked as danger-ous even as our ancestors were considered inferior and threatening and abandoned to die in the camps.

In Israel, we see Jewish democratic values under intense stress by fundamentalists and super nationalists. As Donniel Hartman said when he spoke at Aitz Hayim, the fundamental values of the State of Israel are in the hands of minor party politicians who are only interested in their own parochial interest.

As Jews we have the cultural DNA and intellectual tradition to tackle these questions.

Simply calling ourselves traditional is not enough. Simplyidentifying with a group is not sufficient. As Lincoln said, “Both (sides) read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other.” Rabbi Harold Kushner once wrote, “If you ask the question: ‘Does Judaism say...’, then the answer is always: ‘Yes.’”

“Is anything okay?” means that we use our collective experiences, our Torah, our liturgy, our songs, and our humor to explore what we have to face and what we have to do. Jewish reality exists in our collective heads. But our collective heads are made up of individuals and groups that see things so differently. What does it mean to be Jewish and who determines it for whom? What values among the many we have will be important? And how will they be practiced?

Our Jewish perspective prepares us for thisdifficult year. But it also gives us another tool: Hope. Our story takes us from chaos to order,

darkness to light, slavery to freedom, despair to joy. We live in reality with a hope for a messianic era. We live with a covenantal responsibility to be stewards of the world we have been given and act responsibly to express our values.

The High Holidays are the time when we get ready to deal with the year. The sound of the Shofar, the special music, the challenging Torah readings, power inspiration to be liberated from the Mahzor are our tools that bring us together and send us forth 10 days later.

After spending a year with us, Rabbi Tsafi Lev is well prepared to lead us this year. He understands who we are and what weexpect from our time together. He is aphilosopher who heads CLAL’s Rabbis Without Borders program for the West Coast and he leads Jewish education at the

most innovative Jewish high school in Los Angeles. There hefacilitates dialogue among bright, well-educated Jewish students who are fully prepared to challenge what is not working.

He wants to share with us the complexity of the Mahzor — that the familiar is not as we always thought and there are hidden parts that have escaped unnoticed for decades if not centuries.

David Landau and Howard Levy are already working with Tsafi to use music to highlight themes and bring in contemporaryperspectives.

There is no more powerful statement of what the holidays mean to us this year than the words of Carly Pildis, an African American Jewish woman in Charlottesville,Virginia. “Being Jewish has prepared me to love America while also criticizing itsfailures. Jews are often asked within our faith to hold two truths in one hand. We believe that man has free will but also that Hashem has a plan for us all. We believe that Moses was a great leader and also failed and didn’t enter the Promised Land. We are uniquely capable theologically and culturally of holding two truths.

“It’s how I know that America is both our sanctuary and where our neighbors were brought in chains. It is both our home and a place we can never fully trust. We have more freedom than ever before but the swastika still haunts the doorstep of our synagogue. We love America but wonder if our kids are really safe at our local JCC.” In this guide, we will outline how each service will move the themes forward; we invite you to participate in as many of the services as possible.

SELICHOT

SATURDAY EVENING, SEPT. 16, 20177:00 PM desserts. Movie starts at 7:30 PM sharp at the home of Barbara and Marc Slutsky, 220 Moraine Road,Highland Park

Gathering together Saturday night the week before Rosh Hashana has three complementary purposes. The first is to enjoy some desserts and reestablish relationships so we feel like a community renewed when Rosh Hashana begins.

The second is to open up the neurobiological,psychological, spiritual and intellectual pathways that we will use over the holidays. Hearing the shofar, singing familiar songs literally does what the poets said — open us up for the work ahead.

The third is to put before us the challenges we face to make 5778 the year we want it to be. This year we will show and discuss the extraordinary documentary,The Last Laugh.

Of all the tools we Jews have to deal with the duality of critical reality and idealistic hope none is more important or prevalent than humor. But how willing are we to really apply it? To the Holocaust? Director Ferne Pearlstein sat down with Carl and Rob Reiner, Mel Brooks, Sarah Silverman and others to create a documentary that explores the question. Nothing is a better tool for exploring the “Jewish per-spective” or appreciating how Jewish sensibility works.

ROSH HASHANAEREV ROSH HASHANA — 6:00PM

In the short service before dinner, we will open with thequestions of this New Year.

Where are we as individuals andsociety in the world today? How are we changing? How is the world changing? What have we been doing that is adaptive, what fits with our values and ideals? And what gives us satisfaction yet may indeed beproblematic?

With an introduction to the wordsaccumulated through the centuries and the unique Rosh Hashanamusical modes that transform an

“ordinary evening service” — the Shema, the Amidah and the concluding prayers — we will have ninety minutes ofchallenge and inspiration. We get both a sense of strength from the familiar and confidence that it can sound differently than it did during the year.

All this will be done in a way that is family friendly and end early enough to get home for dinner.

ROSH HASHANA MORNING, DAY ONE — 9:00AM

The Mahzor in many ways can be looked at as a multiple choice opportunity for myriads of personal and communal experiences. Rather than connecting with every image it is an opportunity to reflect on our own reactions. Some images

Is anything okay?

We begin the new year questioning where we are as individuals and society in the world today. What is adaptive, what fits with our ideals? What don’t we like? And, taking it to a different level, what do we like or are satisfied with that may beproblematic?

and models focus on our power, others our helplessness. Some play to our fear, others to our confidence. In some we are individuals, in others we are part of a community. Each in its own place has value and speaks to us. The task we have each year is to fit our needs, our fears and our hopes with our differentalternatives.

Our services will warm up with selections of the orientingblessings, the psalms of the Temple Levites and the special poems that define theextraordinary agenda of the day. Through them we can appreciate what we have, what we need, what we want and what we need to reject.

The Torah reading of Ishmael and Isaac asks what do we do with the other with whom we have problems? How do we deal with those with whom we have intensely visceral disagreements? The Torah suggests thepossibility of separation. What are the moral virtues of this path? How does it fit with family disputes, Israelis and Palestinians, or Civil War “memories”?

After the Torah reading, at about 11 AM, we will sound the Shofar and engage with the themes of the day. In Malchuyot, weconsider our place in the universe. How are we changing,gaining and losing, impacting others and facing our limitations? What defines who we want to be? Through Zichronot, we reflect on the process of our own reflections. How do our memories and

Distinguishing ourselves. How do we use the tool of separation---what do we separate from, get rid of, disavow, and fight against? What are the moral virtues of this path and what are the problems with its excesses andhostilities towards others?

the choices we make set the tone for our future? What and how do we recall the past? In both personal and historic ways, how do we deepen our understanding of our past to enhance our future? And withShofarot, we appreciate that this is not just a contemplativeexercise. We act on how we think and feel. And that leaves

consequences for us and our heirs to live with. In each of these modes we will particularly consider the tool ofdisengagement. When is it necessary? What is the price we pay for it?

In many ways, the central thematic image of Rosh Hashana is: “On Rosh Hashana it is written and on Yom Kippur it is sealed: How many shall leave this world and how many shall be born, who shall live and who shall die?’’ Beyond the literal, how do the per-spectives that we shape as individuals in community on the High Holidays set the tone for the year ahead?

With Kiddush over wine, and motzi over challah, we will conclude at 1 PM.

TASHLICH — 4:30PM

In our postmodern world, we have all become adept at making anything mean what we want it to mean. In the morning we may talk about separation as a

Some things have become so toxic we must throw them away. But it doesn’t mean they disappear.

Judaism gives us all the answers; our challenge is to decide which ones we want to use now.

concept. Yet through Tashlich we consider the reality andconsequences of actually trying to get rid of something. We throw away bread that represents what is unacceptable to us.

How aware are we that even though the form we are getting rid of no longer is ours, it does, indeed, become recycled? Through the seagulls at Lake Michigan, we literally see that happen. We realize and remember that the bread never really disappears and we have no idea of how it will always be part of us.

In many ways, this can either be the “simplest most primitive experience” or the most soul wrenching moment of change during the holidays. With the poignant words of Aveinu Malkaynu and the niggunim of davening we will gather at handicapped

accessible Rosewood Beach for the experience. Access road to the beach is on Sheridan Road a half mile north of Roger Williams Ave. Parking passes for non-residents are available.

ROSH HASHANA MORNING, DAY TWO — 9:00AM

On the second day of Rosh Hashana, we will explore more deeply the process of self blame. Does a need to live up to our ownaspirations become so intense we literally sacrifice ourselves or our children as Abraham intended to do to Isaac?

What are the virtues and difficulties that come from forgiving too easily or not at all? Can we worry too much about our own self

Some things have become so toxic we must throw them away. But it doesn’t mean they disappear.

reflection or become overly consumed with the gap between our aspirations and our performance?

We question if ideals support or interfere with our survival. How important is it to do what’s right in our eyes, in our view of God’s eyes or do we choose what seems more pragmatically useful? How do we balance our ideals with our more pragmatic concerns? Again we will conclude at 1 PM.

THE DAYS IN BETWEEN

On Rosh Hashana we hope to achieve some success inconsidering what approaches we need to achieve to be more adaptive and inspired for the year ahead. What shifts do we have to make in our thinking and self reflection to uplift our family

life, and participation in community and country to approach our higher aspira-tions?

During the days between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, we try to figure that out. What thinking can we do differently? What methods are there to implement change? On a personal level what will we do differently? On a communal level, what will we do to influence the world? How will we use our time and our money to support our redefined expectations of ourselves?

YOM KIPPUR Yom Kippur is the day we put it all together. How do we mix our realities, no matter how frightening, with our unbridled hope? We have ideas about what we need to do and even some ideas about

When ideals conflict with family and community, what is the appropriate reassessment?

Looking inside, how do we use the tools of self blame, flage-lation, sacrifice? Are there personal costs to kindness and love? How do we deal when our personal behavior is misaligned with our aspirations? Is anything to be gained from introspection? Are there debilitating elements of too much self blame?

how to do it. We let go of the “cheyts” which may be thought of not only as “sins” but ways we have gone off course. They are the parts of our lives that don’t fit in with the coherent story we would like to have.

In many ways, the hardest part of thisprocess is letting go because it is as if a part of us dies. And that is painful.Whether it is a cancerous organ or giving up an old idea that no longer is useful, there is loss and sadness. That is why Yom Kippur traditionally draws on the rituals of death and mourning. Like the dead we wear the white kittel shroud, we don’t eat or drink, and we abstain from sex and leather shoes.

By letting go of the old, we can actively work to overcome our own resistances and move ahead.

KOL NIDRE — 6:30PM

On Kol Nidre, we begin with the seemingly problematic words, “Our vows shall not be vows, our oaths shall not be oaths”. Rather than looking at them as a copout for failing, they can inspire us

limited humans to take a chance at doing better. Can we live with the difference between our dreams and our abilities to succeed? Does a lack of perfection or

even a gap between our aspirations and our performance make us hypocrites or even liars?

As we enter, we fill out Al Cheyt forms which reflect the work we’ve done since Rosh Hashana. Where have we fallen short in what we as individuals have done or failed to do? What have we as a Jewish community done wrong or failed to do? How do we own them without succumbing to them?

Immediately after Kol Nidre, we recite the words, “May

Change, even desired change, leads us to mourn our past.

forgiveness be granted to the whole congregation of Israel and to the stranger in their midst for in respect of all the people as if it was doneunwittingly.” And we give God’sresponse, “I have forgiven according to your word.” Ultimate amnesty!Complete grace from God.

Yet that is when the second level of work begins. No longer can we look

to God to be kind to us. It becomes our responsibility to transform ourselves. We have to select our path, define our course and plan our action for the year.

It is a time of support for community by community. You will receive your pledge card. On this, the “holiest” night of the year, we acknowledge that in Judaism money is not the root of evil but a tool that can empower us to fulfill different purposes. It is when we decide what we will make possible for Aitz Hayim to be in the year ahead.

During the service we will recite the Shema, the Amidah of reflection and selections from the poetry written through the ages that attempts to capture the different moods that lead to reflection and change.

Through the two sets of confessions, the Ashamnu and the Al Cheyts, said silently and out loud, we are able to appreciate howordinary, mundane and acceptable our failures and limitations have become. Sometimes they are so much a part of us we don’t even

Our vows shall not be vows. —We deal with our human limitations at a time of desire for change in ourselves and the world. Optimal experience, or flow lies in getting this balance right. The rapid cycle of hope and disappointment and the intolerance of our own impatience.

notice them and sometimes it is just frightening to give them up. Sometimes we don’t consider what is new and different andsometimes we overly invest in rationalizing the status quo.

YOM KIPPUR DAY — 9:00AM

After the warm up in the morning service we will have a second round of the confessionals, which should push us to go beyond where we were and consider behaviors andconsequences within ourselves and our community that we have

not considered before.

The Torah reading emphasizes the themes of having to do things differ-ently. It emphasizes shedding clothing with its symbolic significance. Aaron the High Priest sprinkles the blood to get expiation for himself, his family and

the entire community. What does it mean to “scapegoat” a goat, not because it is different but because it is the same as the goat we sacrifice? Immediately after the Torah reading the words of Isaiah challenge us to do this seriously not just ritually; going through acts has no value if it is done only for self justification and self satisfaction.

At the Yiskor service, through guided imagery we have a chance to reconnect with our parents,spouses, grandparents, children, family members and friends who have been gathered to their ances-tors. This active process becomes totally personal as some are brought to raw pain and others to joyous experiences. For some it is a chance to share news and for others to get

Yom Kippur traditionally draws on the rituals of death and mourning. We wear the white kittel, like the shroud of mourning, we don’t eat or drink like the dead and we abstain from sex and leather shoes.

and give forgiveness.

Two special elements complete the Yom Kippur Musaf service. The Avodah service is our reenactment of the High Priest entering the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur. As we prostrate ourselves in front of the Ark, we literally acknowledge our limitations, un-certainties and fragilities. Through that lack of arrogance comes

opportunities for a new different form of confidence.

The Eyleh Ezkerah is a medieval poem that speaks of the horror of the Romans torturing the great rabbis of the Talmud. It bothcaptures Jewish fear in the face of evil

and cruel enemies and opens the door for the introspection that we may bear someresponsibility as we are condemned for selling our brother Joseph into slavery. As the poem is always open to being reinterpreted to express what we need at the time, so it enables us to set a different tone for our Eyleh Ezkerah (These things I do remember and tell).

MINCHA — 4:45PM

No Torah has been politicized more than the Mincha Torahreading, Leviticus 18: “Do not lie with a male as one lies with a woman.” On the literal level our tradition voices words we no longer accept.

We are forced to face the challenge of how do we appreciate the values expressed by our ancestors in their historical context and ours.

Just as America has to look at the flaws and limitations in ourancestors whether they be Washington, Jefferson or Grant, we have to look at who of our Biblical heroes and how even the Torah itself no longer

In the Yom Kippur experi-ence, God forgives us at the very beginning, we cannot project our needs onto God to be gracious. The rest of the day is our own internal work.

represents our values and ideals.

How can we honor those who are flawed? And how do we distinguish between heroes and those who weren’t heroic in our past?

Are we enslaved by the literalism andinterpretations of the past or do we use these texts to solidify our confidence in the idea that Judaism is an ongoing process ofmaking new meaning? The real questions are what issues do we tackle and when do we face them.

In the haftarah, Jonah fails in hisresponsibility to be part of God’s universal caring. In the end, Jonah responds to divine mer-cy. As he does so, Jonah instills in us a hope that, though we too are flawed and have no perfect answers, we will develop a sense of our most widespread obligations. With that thought, we recite the fourth Amidah of Yom Kippur with the Ashamnu and Al Heyt confessions.

Historical context from Torah to statues of Washington vs those of Lee. Context chang-es everything. Be it through the context of Torah, the Consti-tution, the historical realities of slavery in the time of Washing-ton or Lee, or from our current vantage point, how do we maintain the value of the past and exercise our responsibility to view that reality through the lens of today without devaluing one at the expense of the other?

NEILAH — 5:45PM

Neilah, which literally means closing, is the conclusion of this phase of our year. We have torn apart our hopes and concerns, our disappointments and our dreams.

In the final service of Yom Kippur we make our commitments to put together our new balance, our new approach to the year. Ought our tone with our families, community and society emphasize different approaches than last year? Will we balance our priorities differently?

As individuals and as families we stand before the Ark and offer special personal prayers. Our mourning for the replaced is coming to an end. As the pace quickens, we savor our work as we antici-pate savoring food. Our singing is strong and we have established and reestablished new bonds. As we head forward through 5778, we will have a new appropriate balance for our year ahead.

CHILDREN

Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur are the most adult of allholidays. They are abstract, sophisticated and introspective. They engage our most mature and thoughtful selves. Overall there are no child oriented activities to center around. That is what

makes the High Holidays so important and significant for the next generation.

They see their parents and grandparents engaged Jewishly for their own benefit. At Aitz Hayim we encourage kids to freely walk in and out of services, ask questions, check in with us. And see adults intellectually and emotionally engaged in either community or prayer. We engage our children through the kids’ Aliyah, Shofar blowing and Tashlich, all are extremely inviting.

As always we will have relaxed space for kids to get away and have their own High Holiday experience.

To make the experience enjoyable we will fill the kids space with games, activates and lots of snacks. We will have child care at all services, Erev Rosh Hashana, Rosh Hashana Day 1 and 2, Kol Nidre and all day on Yom Kippur. We will show appropriate films and offer themed activities that capture the theme of ‘Finding the Good’. For older children and teens we will offer challenging discussion topics.

LOGISTICS Aitz Hayim is an inclusive community. Regardless of background, all who want to participate fully in the joy and challenge of this New Year are invited to be with us. Please be sure we have the names of all family and friends attending so that we have a name tag (which serves as their ticket) ready upon arrival. Space in the Community House islimited, so please let us know who and what services they will be attend-ing.

Rosh Hashana services except Tashlich on the first day andMincha/Maariv on the second day of Rosh Hashana will be at the Highland Park Community House, 1991 Sheridan Road,Highland Park. Kol Nidre and Yom Kippur services will be atBernard Weinger JCC, 300 Revere Drive, Northbrook. 847-835-3232 is an office and emergency phone number and can be used anytime during High Holidays for assistance and directions.

Tashlich at 4:30 PM on day 1 of Rosh Hashana will be atRosewood Beach and is accessible by auto from the Sheridan Road entrance to Rosewood Park and Beach in Highland Park. At 6:00 PM on the second day of Rosh Hashana, Mincha/Maariv will be at the home of Barbara and Marc Slutsky, 220 Moraine Road, High-land Park.

The doors are always open during services and we will haverefreshments available in the lobby for both days of Rosh Hashana. We will provide kippot, tallitot, and copies of Mahzor Hadash. Any and all who can blow Shofar are invited to bring them for both mornings of Rosh Hashana and at the end of Yom Kippur.

Lulov and Etrog sets are $50 each. Schach bundles are $20 each. Quantities are limited. Orders must be placed with the Aitz Hayim office by September 19 to reserve.

Erev Rosh Hashana 1st Tishre, WednesdaySeptember 20

6:00 PM

Rosh Hashana day 1

Tashlich & Minchaat Rosewood Beach,

Highland Park

1st Tishre, ThursdaySeptember 21

9:00 AM

4:30 PM

Rosh Hashana day 2

Mincha at 220 Moraine Road,

Highland Park

2nd Tishre, FridaySeptember 22

9:00AM

6:00 PM

Kol Nidre 10th Tishre, FridaySeptember 29

6:30 PM

Yom KippurMinchaNeilah

Shofar Blowing

10th Tishre, ShabbatSeptember 30

9:00 AM4:45 PM5:45 PM7:18 PM

Erev Rosh Hashana, Day 1 and Day 2 serivces are at the Highland Park Community House, 1991 Sheridan Rd., Highland Park

Kol Nidre and Yom Kippur services are at theBernard Weinger JCC, 300 Revere Drive, Northbrook