Beth Emet Synagogue Senior Youth

Shabbat Service

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27 Iyar 5775 Friday, May 15, 2015

Parashiyot Behar/Bechukotai Actions Speak Louder than Words

ברוכים הבאיםWelcome BESSY, Beth Emet Synagogue Senior Youth, is our synagogue’s peer-led high school youth group. Throughout the school year, teens plan and lead social, spiritual, and leadership development programs that provide unique ways for Jewish young people to engage with Judaism, each other, and the Beth Emet community. Inherent to BESSY is a commitment to social action, reflected in both its programming and its approach to leadership. Each year, BESSY hosts a special, themed, Shabbat service that features teen musicians and reflections from members of the youth community. Tonight, BESSY asks you to join us in reflecting on the theme, Actions Speak Louder than Words, as we examine this week’s parshiyot, Behar and B’chukotai, and Pirkei Avot 2:16 — It is not your duty to complete the work. Neither are you free to desist from it.

 

BESSY Board Retreat 5775

סדרTonight’s Service Olam Chesed, back cover of booklet Welcome, Hannah Coffey Shiru L’adonai, pg. 131 L’cha Dodi, pg. 138 Reflection: Rena Newman Chatzi Kadish, pg. 144 Barchu, pg. 146 Maariv Aravim/Roll into Dark, back cover of booklet Reflection: Seth Bearman and Mabel Frank Sh’ma, pg. 152-3 V’ahavta, pg. 154 Mi Chamocha, pg. 158 Reflection: Emma Milner-Gorvine Adonai S’fatai, pg. 164 A t V’I h t 166

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Avot V’Imahot, pg. 166G’vurot, pg. 168 Atah Kadosh, pg. 170 Silent Prayer Oseh Shalom, pg. 180 Mi Shebeirach, pg. 371, Sarina Elenbogen-Siegel Dvar Torah: Emily Dana Aleinu, pg. 586 V’neemar, pg. 589 Mourner’s Kaddish, pg. 598 Kiddush and Motzi, pg. 122 and 606 Lo Alecha, pg. 645 We invite Anna Witcoff and Jadyn Denlow this weeks B’not Mitzvah, to the bima to lead the congregation in kiddush. Mazel tov, Anna and Jadyn!

התבוננות Reflections from BESSY Hannah Coffey, 10th grade — Welcome! Shabbat Shalom Everybody! Welcome to the BESSY Service! Each year, BESSY chooses a theme based on the weekly Torah portion. This year, our theme is "Actions Speak Louder than Words". One of the songs sang tonight is called Olam Chesed Yibaneh, which means "a world built on kindness." The English part of the song says "if we build this world from love, then God will build this world from love." There is a teaching about the world as it is, and the world as it should be that I feel relates to Olam Chesed and our greater theme of taking action. Instead of passively waiting around for change, we can use our thoughts, our ideas, and our actions, to create change and help to rebuild our world with kindness and love. Together we can move closer to the world as it should be, a world built together with God, on kindness and on love. Over the course of tonight’s service, you will hear BESSY teens sharing their reflections on this year’s theme, philosophies they believe in and how they act to apply those philosophies to their lives

 

they believe in, and how they act to apply those philosophies to their lives and our world.

 

Mabel Frank, 12th grade

Shabbat Shalom! On this day, Friday, May 15th, 2015, I have 5 days left of high school. Yes, you heard that right. FIVE DAYS. Recently a friend and I were reflecting on these last four years in E-town, considering all the things we wished we had known when we first entered high school as Aéropostale-cladden freshman. It was a long list: always have an extra pair of pants in your locker, become friends with the security guards, never take a class that meets on the fourth floor, and always go to Israeli club for free kosher pizza and bagels. During this brainstorming session, I came up with a piece of wisdom that essentially captures my entire, 18-year existence. You don’t need to wash your gym uniform, and if you ever actually do need to wash your gym uniform, then you’re working too hard in gym class. Don’t get me wrong; I think physical fitness is

incredibly important. It’s not that I condone wearing dirty clothing everyday for a year, or not giving school your all; it’s that you have to focus on the important things. Young people today are expected to do everything, and it’s near impossible to accomplish it all. From taking difficult classes, to being President of your regional youth group, to being a member of Ukulele Club and Community Service Club, Co-President of Israeli Club, to being in plays and involved in the theater department, to spending time with the one and only Joe Frank? Yeah, I want a medal. We’re spreading ourselves too thin, to the point where we do too much, and we don’t do any of it very well. This brings me to last week, when I lazily rotated on an elliptical in my orange and blue shirt and shorts, unwashed, of course. My gym teacher yelled at me to “stop settling for just good enough!” I ignored her. While I must admit that my grade in Fusion Fitness isn’t stellar, I’m over it. What’s the gym class in your life? What’s disposable? What just doesn’t matter that much? Stop wasting your time on it. Things that don’t make you happy? Things that don’t force you to learn and grow, or become a better person? Gym class is something I just don’t have enough energy or feigned enthusiasm to put into Perhaps me telling you to “do the things

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feigned enthusiasm to put into. Perhaps me telling you to do the things that make you happy” is oversimplifying it, or cliché, or just obvious, but I’m claiming this as my life’s philosophy, and I don’t think I even do it all the time. Start small, with ideas like this, and maybe it will guide you to strive for more each and everyday. Emma Milner-Gorvine, 10th grade

When thinking about a philosophy I believe in, I chose to write about something that I value above all else: knowledge. Knowledge to me does not mean memorizing a textbook or facts and figures. It means learning things that I can use throughout my life. I think that knowledge is power. What you don’t know will hurt you. I think that my time in BESSY has really taught me the value of knowledge. I have learned so much in BESSY, whether it was about social justice, Judaism, or just about myself. I think that the most important part about knowledge is sharing it with others. This year in BESSY, we had an event focused around the topic of gender. People from many different

communities came, not only people from BESSY. We talked about the gender spectrum, and discrimination based on gender, and how gender plays out in our daily lives. This really showed me the power of knowledge. Not only did I get to teach everyone who came, but I also learned from them. I thought it was amazing that we had nearly forty people there who were excited to learn about gender. Everyone who came left more knowledgeable, and ready to teach others. I think that by sharing our knowledge with others we can make the world a better place. Emily Dana, BESSY Co-President, 12th grade This week we read parts of two parshiyot: Behar and Bechukotai. In these Torah Portions Moses receives additional instructions from God on Mount Sinai, We learn of the Sabbath year, when the fields are given a rest and the people can gather and eat what grows without plowing and reaping., and the Jubilee year, when we are instructed to return land to its original owners and set Hebrew slaves free. Behukotai also includes blessings and curses that will be consequences of our following God’s laws. But what are the connections between all these instructions? What do the spiritual experience of receiving the commandments and the laws of

 

spiritual experience of receiving the commandments and the laws of farming have to do with each other? Studying with Rabbi London in Kabbalat Torah this year, we learned that Judaism is a religion of “deed, not creed.” Behar is about learning God’s commandments: figuring out what we are supposed to do on a greater scale, and how that doing relates to and creates the “being” that we are. Receiving and following the commandments relates to Kohlberg’s stages of morality: conventional morality is doing something just because the law says to do it. We can easily follow God’s commandments without thinking about them. We light Shabbat candles, wrap a tallit around our shoulders and recite the familiar words of the Amidah. However, just blindly following commandments is not what Judaism teaches us to strive for. The next stage in the moral hierarchy is post-conventional morality in which we think about the values and ethics that surround our actions. From the technical instructions about the care of the earth and the release of slaves, we are reminded that we are not the owners of the land or of others. By combining the values of Judaism with the practice of Judaism, we can fully and authentically be Jewish by recognizing both the actions and the words of our religion.

We often struggle with the “being.” Think about it: when was the last time that you sat down for ten minutes and just thought? We live in a world of constant movement: ringing phones, busy streets, nagging parents. I often feel that if I turn my phone off even for just a few hours, I miss so much. But what are we losing by not allowing ourselves to be in the present? Do we miss out on making connections with the people around us? How authentic is our presence if we are not really “there?” There’s a certain beauty in just ‘being.” Before I go off on a philosophical rant, I’ll bring it back to the Torah Portion. This is the connection between the Shmita, or Sabbath year, and the year of Jubilee. Whether we are rejoicing or just resting, we are living in the moment, authentically following the commandments of God. By no means is living in this way easy. I myself am not so great at it and at times am uncomfortable with the stillness of just being. Resting or rejoicing, forces us to get to know ourselves in the moment, which in a way may be more difficult than getting to know others. But I think it’s more important. How can we “be” in this amazing space this Shabbat? How can we put all of the craziness of the week behind us and celebrate the day of rest? I challenge you, BE, to try your best. Thank you and Shabbat Shalom.

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Liora London, 11th grade Abraham Lincoln once said: “We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.” It is easy to see the negative aspects of life because our minds are trained by society to want more and to not settle with what we have. It is admirable to strive for better because we want to improve the world, but not because we are selfish. It can be easy to complain because another person has a newer iPhone or a fancier car. It is easy to forget all of our own fortunes, material or not. Perspective is everything. Just as a photographer chooses from what angle a photograph is taken, people can choose what angle their life is lived. For the past three months I have been studying and traveling in Israel. I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to deviate from the normal high school path and live in another part of the world. Obviously the program is not perfect. I could be miserable because we barely get any time to sleep, study, or see friends. But when I take a step back and look at the full picture, I see all the unique and unimaginable times I have had. The petty

drama and immature people fade away, because I will not allow trivial aspects to squash an overall life altering experience. It is imperative to not push away issues that we do not want to spend time solving rather we should attack every issue with an optimistic mindset. Every small problem can be wiped away by not letting it envelope us, and realizing that life is not perfect but we can do our best to make it so. I encourage you all to step out of your hectic bubble called life for a second and realize that it is great to even be here, alive, breathing, and experiencing. Seth Bearman, 11th grade Today we are anxious to see what the newest generation of contributors to society is going to make of this world, a world caught like a moth between the windowpane and the screen batting around for a way out on one side or the other. Like any young person riding the inevitable wave of change, I am already proud of the things my peers will accomplish someday. I already regret that not all of us will live to see the change we will help to create. We’ll

 

g pnever be done growing and changing as a global society, or as a people under the spirit of progress and togetherness, but I think that someday soon we will all be in a place we can feel satisfied, a place in which we have converted all of our discoveries and technology, our philosophies and virtues into programs to uplift all of our fellow humans and sustain an environment in which we would like to live. However, for all of my hopefulness and enthusiasm, I have to reconcile it all with the reality of the world I am inheriting, the moth in the window, caught, because being honest and realistic is the key to making things better. All of that is why I consider openness one of my greatest and most essential values. Being open prepares for a future which I anticipate to be intensely foreign, even if it is so in all the most positive ways; being open means that I must strive to be the first to accept and the last to ignore. Like a window, we each have the capacity to start or stop being open at our own discretion, making openness a constant endeavor that requires a thoughtful kind of vigilance. In striving to be open, I’ve witnessed moments where people of all ages misunderstand one another and therefore are less accepting. So what do we do in one of these moments? How do we implement this

concept of being open without forcing it on anybody else? We need only turn on the T.V. to witness examples of unawareness, prejudice, and dogmatism. Even in a high school hallway, if it’s just in jest, even if it’s only among friends, even if it’s somebody I know and love, when I hear someone say or perpetuate something that I recognize is holding society back, something that invalidates someone’s experience, I can’t accept that, and I especially can’t just pass by without doing something about it. It isn’t about being self-righteous. It isn’t about indoctrinating my own understandings on people who I think are ignorant. It’s about offering contrasting viewpoints in response to situations which might otherwise make me or somebody else uncomfortable. The solution can often be as simple as exposing others to different ideas. At lunch every day, I eat with a bunch of friends in the arts wing at my school. I’m thankful to find myself engaged much of the time in discussions about everything from racial injustice in communities across the map to the concept of gender spectrums and how identity and inequality are related. Conversations like these excite me, and these are moments when I can often sit back and expand my mind to all of these contrasting and unique views. This is a space where I learn and continue to be open, but it is also one that is susceptible to opinions which make others feel unsafe or unwelcome even small things. In one such

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others feel unsafe or unwelcome, even small things. In one such instance, two friends of mine laughing about how “boys” can’t understand any of the problems that “girls” have socially just by being girls. Sure, that’s all well and good, and maybe true for people who really feel they are boys and they are girls, but I decided to bring up the perspective of people who don’t feel they belong under any one of those labels. “How do they fit into this?” I argued. “And, beyond that, can you really exclude somebody’s entire understanding as relevant to yours just because they are a boy or because they are a girl? I think that’s at least a little problematic.” This interjection did not go over well, and quickly I could feel things turning into an argument, so I put it to rest. A few days later, one of the two called me and asked me why I’d been so upset and impassioned by what they had been talking about. I did my best to tell why this felt bigger to me than just “girls and boys” or “hair and makeup”. What bothered me most was that they are my close friends and it never feels good to think that among friends, pointing out a disagreement like that would be so unwelcome.

Of course I don’t have all the answers – nobody really does. But after that whole little fiasco, I knew more about what it means to embrace and spread openness, and my friends knew more about what I was talking about – a topic I have interest in, I take personally, and I feel I have some exposure to. It felt good. It felt like palpable headway. I really believe that the more we can engage in conversations like these with an open mind, the better we will get at handling moments like this. We will become smarter, more sensitive, more thoughtful, more passionate, and more open. We will learn about one another and we will feel safer and more welcome in this society, to the point that there won’t be any argument in the first place. Instead, there will be two wiser people, an unrecognizably better world, and an open window.

Rena Newman, BESSY Co-President, 11th grade Much of our lives revolve around other people – it’s from them that we learn the most, grow the most. But a lot of times we actively avoid that growth because above all else, new experiences and especially new people are scary or exhausting or both. Kurt Vonnegut was the one who said, “New experiences are like dancing lessons from God.” I honestly believe

 

that it is because of this quote that I did the following: 1. Went to a radical leftist newspaper meeting at a Chicago coffee

house with a friend one winter school night 2. Window shopped, drank a milkshake, and took the red line with a

girl I’d just met who was staying at her mom’s house this particular weekend, instead of her dad’s on the south side.

3. Most recently, said “Yes” when two kids I’d never met asked me to come present about gender and sexuality to a whole room full of gym teachers.

Number three was definitely the most nerve wracking. Our youth group BESSY had just finished our social action event, a teen-led workshop called “Let’s talk about Gender!”, where we educated and discussed what ‘gender’ really means in the modern world. With 45 attendees, I’m proud to call our event a success, and with its success apparently came some buzz. I was approached by two leaders of my school’s GSA, (Gay Straight Alliance) who asked me if I’d like to help them present to some teachers about gender. I wondered if my game card already too full - I had AP tests ahead, too much homework. Would I really have enough energy to give them my full effort and attention?

My friend Kurt Vonnegut appeared beside me, smacked those excuses out of my objection-laden tongue, and reminded me that some risks are worth taking. Take a dancing lesson from God. “Yes.” I said to them after a moment’s hesitation. “Who are we presenting to?” When the answer was “the entire gym and wellness staff” I almost revoked my answer on the spot. Of all the departments at, the gym department has by far the most incidents of bigotry, sexism, intolerance, and general discomfort. It’s the only department where it’s still acceptable to tell the class “to stop throwing like girls” and “to stop being sissies.” The hypothetical catastrophe of angry meathead coaches screaming homophobic, transphobic slurs materialized in my mind’s eye. But I looked at the two folks before me who had been so kind to reach out. What they were doing was important, and I was honored to be included. After a few email exchanges and a coffee date, we were ready. We stood up and delivered. We explained the difference between sex and gender – that sex refers to your biological genitalia, and gender refers to how you identify, your personal, instinctual sense of self as a man, a woman, somewhere in between, or neither. We answered some Bruce Jenner related questions. The gym staff allayed our nervous expectations and they were both interested and incredibly respectful.

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As we left, the three of us high fived each other, buzzing warmly. But shortly after we made it down the four flights of stairs, I realized I’d forgotten my water bottle upstairs. I bid these new friends goodbye before lugging myself and my thirty-pound backpack all the way back up the stairs, resembling an exhausted turtle. When I reached the top, I found my sophomore health teacher Mr. Wilburn was still in the conference room. We were alone, except for a janitor sweeping up around us. “Rena,” he said, “Good work on the presentation. It’s not comfortable for me sometimes…learning about all this. But I’m getting comfortable with the discomfort.”

There’s a brilliant, social activist lawyer named Brian Stevenson who recently came to speak at ETHS. He names the four pillars of major social change: Getting proximity to the issue, changing the dominant narrative, never losing hope, and, the most difficult one, putting yourself in uncomfortable situations. Trying to get comfortable with discomfort is the way to personal growth. Brian Stevenson believes that we have to think about the things that might make us uncomfortable in order to reach full understanding. I told this to Mr. Wilburn. Well, the janitor sweeping up in

the corner overheard me and asked “Who was that lawyer you were talking about?” I introduced myself and shook his hand. “Tom,” he said. He told me that he’d been trying to do that same thing – put himself in uncomfortable situations so that he could set himself free. He was an artist, and a phenomenal one. He’d been drawing comics and illustrations as far back as he could remember, and was just starting to take those scary steps to leave this job and go fulfill his dream to animate for Disney. When I mentioned that I drew too, he asked to see my sketchbook, and paged through it with the hands of a professional. We discussed illustration, art school, where he was going and how he wanted to get there. We sat there for an hour, before he realized the time and apologized for having to leave and finish his shift. As we parted ways, Tom fished a business card from out of his wallet. “You can check out my site,” he told me and I assured him that I would. When I got into my car, I exhaled down onto the dash and stared out the window, ignition not yet lit. A series of connections had struck a spark in me, and I smiled. We have this power to connect with other people. To lean in to exchange new ideas to see beyond the obvious to lighten each

 

lean in, to exchange new ideas, to see beyond the obvious, to lighten each other’s days. I could’ve said no when those two friends asked me to come with them. I could’ve backed down, disengaged, acted uninterested. I could’ve not put myself into that uncomfortable situation - Don’t go out to lunch. Don’t ask them how their day was. Don’t compliment what she said, don’t give him that little gift. Our lives brim with opportunity, and sometimes missed opportunity. But in the end, when given the chance, the only real way look into someone’s eyes and connect is to lean forward and say “yes.” If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that Kurt Vonnegut really knew how to tango.

מכתביםLetters to BESSY Libby Fisher, BESSY Advisor Dear BESSY, When I first became the BESSY Advisor, I was not quite sure what to expect. I knew Yoni from OSRUI, and he always talked about BESSY as a ‘progressive’ youth group, but I did not know quite how that abstract idea would play out in real life. After a few months with you guys, I can say with 100% certainty that Yoni was absolutely right. Not only is the BESSY board structure more inclusive and values-driven than I could have imagined, but that philosophy reverberates throughout BESSY programming effortlessly. By now, I’m sure word of BESSY’s program “Let’s Talk About Gen-der!” has spread far and wide – as it should be! This program was a huge success, both from a programmatic and a community-building perspec-

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, p g y g p ptive. (For those who don’t know, this program was focused on bringing together teens from around the Evanston community to learn about terminology, to explore how gender plays a role in society today, and to create an inclusive community in which we can continue to discuss these big questions and important issues.) The turnout at the event was amaz-ing and the take-aways are countless. However, what strikes me as even more poignant than the number of attendees is the amount of planning and time BESSY put into making this event a success. As high school-ers, you guys are pulled in a thousand different directions – homework, extracurriculars, family obligations, get-togethers with friends… the list goes on and on. But once you decided that gender was an important issue that you wanted to bring to the wider community, nothing got in your way. You worked as a team for hours, educating yourselves, creat-ing interesting programming, and implementing every leadership tool in the shed. You took your philosophy and put it into action – and that’s something not every high schooler can say. So be proud of yourselves - I’m certainly proud of you!

Abigail Backer, Director of Youth Programs Dear BESSY, My first memory of BESSY was actually during my first days of work at

I’ll close my letter with a huge THANK YOU! Joining a tight-knit com-munity in the middle of a year can be incredibly difficult, but my transi-tion into the role of BESSY Advisor was a piece of cake. Starting at the Snow Tubing event, you welcomed me immediately, made me feel like a part of the team, and were just generally amazing from the get-go. Finally, I’d like to give a special shout out to Abby, who did not hesitate in show-ing me the ropes and introducing me to BESSY as partner and a friend. I can’t wait to see what next year brings for BESSY – whatever it is, I’m sure we will make it phenomenal! B’Ahavah, Libby

 

Beth Emet. I spent the day meeting people in the building, getting my email set up and settled into my office. By the end of the day, my brain felt like mush so it seemed like a good time to take a tour around the building. First stop: The Perlman Room. And what did I find there but three BESSYites painting the leaves on the wall of the Perlman Room tree. I heard about their summers, their adventures in BESSY and mostly observed as they laughed and joked with each other. I left my first day feeling energized by our interactions and excited by what the year had in store. When I came in the next morning I was delighted by what I found: post-it notes covering my computer screen with expressions like “You rock my socks off!” “#BESSYluvsAbby” and “Hope your office feels homey – you are a part of the Beth Emet community!” I could not believe how thoughtful and kind these individuals had been to take the time to sneak into my office, make me feel so welcomed, and even change the background on my computer screen to read “Downton Abby.” This was the first of many moments during the year in which members of the BESSY community turned words into action. BESSY is not just self-described with empty words as welcoming and inclusive – each of you live out warmth and inclusivity through the holy community that you create

together. I saw philosophy turned into practice again at the Gender Workshop a few weeks ago. Throughout the year, I heard many of you speak with great passion about the importance of exploring gender and sexuality and creating safe spaces. But you did not stop there. For BESSY’s Social Action program, you created a revolutionary workshop about society’s construction of gender and sexuality and led it for your peers. You created a safe space for people of many different identities and backgrounds and educated them about topics for which you care deeply. You turned words into action in a very powerful way and I am so proud and inspired by each of you. I hope that as you grow in your BESSY experience, you continue to seek out opportunities in which you can act on your beliefs and create the world of your dreams. L’shalom, Abby

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BESSY Social Action Gender Workshop

Students from all over Evanston joined in the event!

Olam Chesed Yibaneh by Rabbi Menachem Creditor

Olam Chesed Yibaneh עֹוָלם ֶחֶסד יִָּבנֶה

I will build this world from love

And you must build this world from love

And if we build this world from love

Then God will build this world from love

Olam Chesed Yibaneh

Roll into Dark by Rabbi Noam Katz

Roll into dark R ll i li h

 

Shabbat Shalom

Roll into lightNight becomes day Day turns to night

Boreh yom va’lailah

goleil or mipney choshech (x2) vechoshech mipney or