Shelter Rock Jewish Center

I know it will sound just a bit premature, but I want to encourage all of you not to make any alternate plans for the first Shabbat in February. It's going to be a very special weekend at Shelter Rock and I hope you'll all be present.

First of all it's going to be a special Shabbat devoted to talking about the concept of inclusivity...and about the ways we can rethink the degree to which our synagogue building is accessible to all Jewish people who might wish to come here. We are a very friendly congregation...but we have a building that could be a lot more welcoming to all sorts of people—and especially to people in wheelchairs or who have to deal with other kinds of mobility issues, and to people who can't hear well or who don't see well enough to read without special assistance or who can't manage stairs or steps. It's easy to ignore these issues, or not to take them too seriously. For one thing, we all look around and have the same series of seductively pleasant thoughts: we're doing okay, everybody seems to be managing, no one is complaining too loudly...so why spend all that money addressing issues that don't really exist? But, of course, the reason we only see people managing to cope when we look around is because the people who can't manage and who can't cope aren't present. Absent, they become invisible. And invisible, they become all too easy to ignore...and then to forget about entirely. That's what we want to spend the Shabbat of February 1-2 discussing as a community. This is something the United Jewish Appeal is hoping will take place in every congregation in New York, but here at Shelter Rock, two members of the congregation, Sandra Cohen and Howard Pavane, have agreed to organize things for us. They're both highly motivated to make this a real success and I'm sure we will end up resolving to open our doors wider than ever to more people than ever. That, at any rate, is the plan! I know from personal experience how stimulating and inspiring it can be to participate in this kind of community-wide forum. I hope you all join us and take part.

Second, we are going to have a very distinguished visitor for that Shabbat, Rabbi Bradley S. Artson, the dean of the Ziegler Rabbinical School at the American Jewish University, formerly the University of Judaism, in Los Angeles, and one of that institution's vice presidents. I've known him for about twenty-five years and I can promise you all that he will be an articulate, thoughtful, and intelligent speaker. He is coming to New York to speak on Sunday, February 3, in Manhattan on behalf of the UJA and it was our very good fortune to get him to agree to spend Shabbat at Shelter Rock. His commitment to this concept of inclusivity is personal, as well as intellectual and spiritual, and I know that he will speak passionately and from the heart about the topic. I'm looking forward to hearing what he has to say myself...and I hope you'll all be there too. More details will be forthcoming in the next few weeks.

I also have another community-wide event I'd like to bring to your attention. One of the most exceptional Shoah books I've read in the last few years was Peter Duffy's book, The Bielski Brothers: The True Story of Three Men Who Defied the Nazis, Built a Village in the Forest, and Saved 1,200 Jews, published by Harper Perennial Books in 2004. The book, which is absolutely one of the most inspiring and moving you'll read about Jewish resistance during the war, is the story of Tuvia, Zusia, and Asael Bielski, three Jewish brothers from Belarus, then part of the Soviet Union, who established a large partisan camp in the forest during the years of the Second World War and whose exploits are credited with saving the lives of at least 1,200 Jews. The reason I mention it to you is that a documentary has now been made about the whole episode that is called Jerusalem in the Woods, and it is going to be shown locally at the Lake Success Jewish Center on Sunday evening, December 23rd. Not only that, but the son of Zusia Bielski is going to be present to answer questions about his family's experiences. (The book is also being made into a full-length Hollywood movie, so you'll hear way more about the Bielskis in the coming months.) I know a lot of our Shelter Rock families will be away at that time of the year, but if you're around, it would be an incredible experience to hear this fellow, named Zvi Bielski, speak about his father's experiences. There is a dinner too, which will begin at 5 PM, and then the movie will be shown at 6. The Lake Success Jewish Center is at 354 Lakeville Road, but you should phone them at 466-0569 to get the specific prices for the meal and the film, and to reserve your spot. Joan and I will be up in Toronto for a few days, so we can't go. But I would have definitely gone! And I hope that some of you, at least, are around and can go. If you can't go on the 23rd, I can still recommend that you read the book. The whole story is just amazing, and I'm sure the documentary will be too.

Sincerely yours,

Rabbi Martin S. Cohen