So there’s this new toy that has taken the nation by storm. The fidget spinner. A small 3-pronged spinning device that seems to be a hybrid between a hamantash and a dreidel. After decades of teacher’s trying to dissuade their students from fidgeting and doodling, this contraption embraces it. The "fidget" welcomes the child - or adult - to mindlessly spin away, allowing access to a sort of peaceful focus.
As the academic experts debate the merits of allowing a possible distraction into the classroom, I’d like to focus on the source of the fidge
ting symptom. The need to constantly move, not sitting still for a moment. It’s actually a profound concept, and is the origin of the “shuckel” - the swaying movement so synonymous with Jewish prayer. You walk into Shul, put on a Talit, and as you murmur the words of prayer, you find yourself “shuckeling”. Why?
Have you ever noticed that a flame constantly dances on its wick, quivering, flickering, yearning to ascend? The fire wishes to be free from the constraints of the candle. Yet if that were to happen, the fire would cease to exist, no longer illuminating its surroundings, no longer warming its environment. Its mission aborted.
Each of us has a fire inside. Our Neshama, Hebrew for the soul, burns within, glowing with lofty passions and aspirations. It cannot sit idle, it has got to be active, journeying, exploring, moving. If the soul were to have its way, it would float right on up to the celestial spheres and dance with the stars, singing with the angels.
But, like the candle, our mission can only be accomplished while we are firmly rooted to the ground. Channeling our energies and passions to do a Mitzvah, a good deed, in this world, positively affecting our circle of impact.
This was the gift at Mount Sinai, when Heaven met Earth. It was the introduction of this unique ability to fuse the spiritual with the physical, the flame with the candle, bringing light into darkness and transforming it into a place of warmth and vitality.
The lesson: Let your inner fidget spin. Keep that fire burning. Yet all the while, channel that inextinguishable spark of life into doing amazing things. For yourself, for your family, and for your community. Fulfill your mission by burning bright in your assigned position. Keep on spinning!
This Wednesday, join us as we fuse the 10 commandments with Ice Cream and Cheesecake and celebrate the giving of the Torah. Oh, and of course, we have custom "Proud 2 be Jewish" Fidget Spinners for all the kids!
From the Rabbi's Desk
Fidget Spinner Musings
What's on your Head?
I had just gotten out of the car to put the Camp Aleph "welcome packets" in the mailbox when he asked me "what is that on your head"?
I turned to see a young boy walking home from school with his friend, and before I had a chance to reply, she says, "that's a Kippah, don't you know that I'm Jewish"? And they kept right on walking talking about what being Jewish means etc.
Nothing happens by accident. Why had this interaction taken place? I hadn't uttered a word. A Yarmulka had inspired a question, answer and the ensuing conversation.
Reflecting on this micro-episode, I realized that this is what the upcoming holiday of Shavuot is all about. (By the way, please join us for Cheesecake, Ice Cream, a delicious dairy spread and the reading of the 10 commandments).
Mount Sinai was the location of choice for the monumental occasion of the giving of the Torah. In fact, the Midrash relates that all the mountains were arguing over the honor. Each one thought themselves to be worthy as the chosen spot. This one because it was the tallest mountain, this one the widest, etc.
Ultimately, the one mountain that didn't enter into the discussion, without any claim to fame was chosen. It was Mount Sinai. The lowest of the bunch. For to get the Torah, we need to have humility, the ability to listen, a level of selflessness.
Well, if humility is all the rage, why not choose a valley? Here we take the lesson that we also need confidence and strength. The ability to stand up against the current.
A Jew once complained to his Rebbe that people were trampling on him when they entered the Synagogue. The Rebbe's advice: "Don't lie down in front of the doorway". Humility is not synonymous with being a doormat.
The image of Mount Sinai shows us that we need both qualities: the ability to listen and respect, and at the same time, the firmness to stand tall and proud as a Jew.
And at that moment, standing on a Petaluma streetcorner, I saw the Yarmulka's message in action resulting in a Jewish girl standing tall and proud.
I'm flying United...
Dr. David Dao was forcibly shlepped off his United Airlines flight. A stroller was violently taken from a mom flying American. Chaos erupted in when Spirit pilots refused to fly in Florida. A family was threatened with jail time for not wanting to give up their baby's seat on a Delta flight to Hawaii.
What is going on? What has happened to common decency and courtesy?
Let's take a step back to an airline's inaugural flight, or to a maiden voyage of a cruise ship. As one can imagine, everything takes place in idyllic fashion. The stewardesses smiles are fresh and bright, the pilot's broadcast over the PA is animated and joyful, the passengers are courteous to one another. Perhaps they hired a band to greet the passengers in the terminal, complimentary hor d'oeuvres and champagne to set the mood.
What happens on that flight is not just a marketing ploy to attract future passengers. I think that, at least on some level, it represents some core values that the airline believes in. Wanting to make travel enjoyable, providing exemplary customer service, creating an environment of camaraderie in the air, (Hey, and make a little money on the side 😉 ).
But then amidst the pressures of day to day life, those same values fade into the background. While trying to accommodate hundreds of travelers hurrying to their destinations, the couple who would like to sit together seems more like an annoyance. Not out of mal intent, but simply getting caught up in the black and white of getting the airplane off the ground with a constantly ticking clock.
Between Passover and Shavuot it is a time of mourning, as thousands of Rabbi Akiva's students were dying. On "Lag B'omer" the 33rd day, the plague finally stopped. The day (this Sunday), is a day of celebration, 
celebrated with music, bonfires and festivities.
What was the cause of this plague? The Talmud tells us that they didn't respect one another. This is thoroughly perplexing as their teacher, the great sage Rabbi Akiva's MO was to love your fellow as yourself. How could his very own students act with disregard for another's feelings?
But like the airlines, their core beliefs of respect and love were forgotten in their quest to "do life" right. While trying to ensure that their fellow life passengers were doing exactly what the instruction manual recommends, they forgot the spirit by which they meant to operate.
Lag B'omer (as we turn mourning into marshmallows) represents coming back to the basics; that amidst all the hustle and bustle, the baggage and seat assignments, the focus needs to remain the same for flight attendants and passengers alike. The American (and yes, very Jewish) value of truly flying... United.
Get some commUNITY tonight at the Jewish Social Network Shabbat Dinner. 6:30pm, 1970 Rainier Circle. I hear the food will be better than any airline!
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I'd like to take the opportunity to wish all the moms out there - beginning with my own mother (Hi Mom!) and Devorah - a very happy Mother's Day! Thank you for being mom!
I Blew It!
I blew it.
That has got to be one of the most depressing feelings. Opportunity lost. Gone with the wind. Perhaps it was a conversation that quickly went south, a reaction in the heat of the moment, a business deal that in hindsight was the wrong move.
Sometimes, it seems like we never even had a chance. When you get sick and miss that major event; when a job gets filled before you even applied; when your dream home sells before you put in an offer.
If only I had been accepted to that school; If only I had learned that when I was younger; If only I had that talent. If only.
How do we overcome this sense of despair? Enter the 2nd Passover (celebrated this Wednesday).
When leaving Egypt, amidst all the festivities, there was one group of Jews who had every right to feel left out. Those who were entrusted with carrying Joseph's coffin through the desert to the Holy Land. Ritually impure from being in contact with the deceased, they could not participate in the Passover sacrifice.
What did they do? Were they demoralized, dejected and discouraged? Did they sit in their tent in acceptance and defeat? No! They channeled their desire to participate, and created new opportunity. After lobbying Moshe, and his divine consultation on their behalf, a new Holiday was born: Pesach Sheni - the 2nd Passover. Those who were unable to participate in the previous month's celebration would be able to have their time one month later.
The message: There's always a second chance. We can always create new opportunity. We can make things right. We just need to want to. Instead of dwelling on the past, let's look forward and create a bright future!