Wurtsboro Hebrew Congregation

08/21/2023

Dear friends, as our regular members are already aware, the Wurtsboro Hebrew Congregation ceased operations last year around this time. Thank you all for viewing and following our page, and thanks to the people and families who made this community a special place for ninety years.

Our holiday videos will remain available to view for seasonal inspiration. As we enter Elul and approach the holiday season, we wish you all a Shana Tovah u'Metukah - may all be inscribed for a good and sweet New Year.

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09/15/2021

Yizkor Update 5782/2021:

Yizkor is said on Yom Kippur to remember our family and community members who have passed on. Please scroll down to see a recording of our shul president, Harold Diamond, reciting the names of the departed of our community. Those who died in the past year whose names are not in that recording deserve to be remembered at this time as well. They are Alan Mendels and Gerald Chalmers. May their memory be a blessing for their families, for the community at large, and for the entire people Israel.

09/15/2021

Additional thoughts for Yom Kippur:

The Yiddish author Moshe Bunem Justman, writing under the pseudonym B. Yeushzohn, wrote this story about Kapparoth, the ceremony we perform in the days before Yom Kippur to help effect atonement for our sins.

A day before Yom Kippur eve, a chasid came to the famous Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk in order to see how the rabbi does the Kapparoth ceremony and try to learn anything he could from it. The rabbi instructed the chasid to travel to a nearby village to the Jewish innkeeper and to remain there overnight. The chasid followed these instructions and travelled directly to the village inn. As he entered, the chasid surveyed the room and saw it was full of customers, some in various states of inebriation, and the innkeeper and his wife were busy serving the customers and keeping the peace. The chasid silently sat down in a dark corner, made believe he was asleep, and waited while observing through slightly open eyes.

After midnight when the last of the customers finally left and with the chasid still sitting in the dark corner unnoticed, he saw the innkeeper going back and forth through the room, sighing, and then his wife presented him with two old worn ledger books that she had pulled out from under the bed. The innkeeper opened up one ledger book, and, crying, started reading from its pages line by line a list of all the sins which he had the misfortune of committing that year. On such and such day, he failed to help a poor man sufficiently; on a different day, he listened to foul language coming from some of his customers; on yet another day, he let his mind wander during prayers into evil thoughts; and so on and so forth, he went down the long list, one by one, while weeping bitter tears.

When he finished the first book, he then opened up the second ledger book and again started reading each page, entry by entry. In this second book was written all his worries, problems, and troubles that he suffered during the past year. This was a very very long list. There was hardly a day without some form of grief and misfortune. When he finally finished this book too, he hung his head over the table while deep in thought. After a long period of contemplation, he raised his head, looked heavenward, and said, “Master of the Universe! I cannot deny that I have wronged You most grievously. I am guilty of many offenses against You. However, You too have wronged me and You too are guilty, as it were, of offenses against me. In summation of our activities, I don’t know whose debt is greater and who deserves redress; it is beyond my ability to calculate and understand. So, Master of the Universe, let us make a deal and call things even. Your debt for my debt, this book for that book, this list of offenses for that list of troubles, ….” and the innkeeper proceeded to the words of the Kapparoth ceremony, “…. This is my exchange, this is my substitute, this is my atonement.”

The chasid watched this with open mouthed astonishment. Little by little, it dawned on him why Rabbi Elimelech sent him there. It was in order to learn the true meaning of the Kapparoth ceremony and repentance; true atonement, achievable in a state when a person is at one with one’s G-d.

09/15/2021

Cantor Birnbaum's thoughts for Yom Kippur:

Tractate Kallah Rabbati, a post Talmudic work in the style of the mishnah, states, “Great is Torah, for it gives life to those that practice it both in this world and in the world to come”. This statement is followed by several proof texts from the bible, including one which is familiar from the liturgy, “She is a tree of life to those that grasp her, and whoever holds onto her is happy” (Proverbs 3:18). Tractate Yoma in the Babylonian Talmud states, “Great is repentance, for it brings healing to the world, as it says (Hosea 14:5), ‘I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely’”. The quote from Hosea is likewise familiar at this time of year because it is found in the haftarah of the Sabbath that falls between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur.

These messages are reinforced by the haftarah from the book of Isaiah read on the morning of Yom Kippur. “Thus says the loft Eternal, the Holy One: Though exalted and holy, I am with the humble soul - to revive the spirit of the humble, and to put heart into the crushed…. I have seen man’s ways, and I will heal him: I will guide him, consoling him and his mourners. Peace, the far and near shall have peace, says the Lord who creates the speech of the lips – and I will restore everyone to health. But the wicked are like the restless sea that cannot be still; its waters toss filth and dirt. There is no peace for the wicked, says my God…. Behold, this is the fast that I esteem precious: Loosen the chains of wickedness, undo the bonds of oppression, let the crushed go free, break all yokes of tyranny, share your food with the hungry, take the poor to your home, clothe the naked when you see them never turn from your fellow. Then shall your light dawn, your healing shall come soon; your triumph shall go before you, the Lord’s glory backing you…. Then shall your light rise in darkness and be bright as noon; the Lord will always guide you and healthfully nourish you…”

In these dark days of the pandemic, life and healing are perhaps the most sought-after things. These biblical verses which are part of the liturgy in this season, along with many other biblical sources, demonstrate that the traditions of our Torah and repentance are associated with life and healing; they give peace and calm to the restless, light to those surrounded by darkness, and sustenance to the weary. Though the prevention and treatment of COVID 19 still has a way to go before being fully effective, we are fortunate to be living in an age in which modern medicine can increasingly do something effective to meet the threat. As we work with modern medicine in lengthening the chronologic days of our lives, at this time of year we should consider that perhaps Torah and repentance can help us put more spiritual life into our days.

09/06/2021

Cantor Birnbaum's thoughts for the second day of Rosh Hashanah:

שופר מנוקב פסול.... זהב במקום הנחות הפה פסול
The code of Jewish law states that a shofar with holes is disqualified from use on Rosh HaShanah; also, a shofar that is overlayed with gold at its mouthpiece is likewise disqualified from use.

The shofar does not have its own sound like other musical instruments such as a piano. It transmits and magnifies the sound made by the lips of the one blowing into it. The shofar is sounded for three reasons:
1. Spiritual, such as accompaniment to sacrifices in the Temple in Jerusalem
2. To bring the people together for public matters, and
3. As an alarm of war calling the people to fight for its existence.

It is not so much the blowing of the shofar as much as the hearing of the shofar and the understanding by the listener of what is being communicated which brings about the desired effect in each of these instances. That is why the blessing is “To hear the sound of the shofar” rather than “To blow the shofar”. It is incumbent upon all of us, including the shofar blower, to hear and understand what the shofar sounding is trying to communicate.

In each purpose of the shofar sounding, spiritual, public interests, and defense, an essential element for success is unity. The shofar must therefore be a call to unity. This is why a shofar cannot have holes. A shofar with holes would be capable of two or more sounds, just like a recorder or flute produces different tones depending on which holes are opened or closed. Such a shofar which can speak to the people with two or more voices would symbolize division rather than the unity which is required for success.

To achieve the goals of the shofar sounding, the call must generate from the interests of the public. That is why a shofar overlaid with gold at its mouthpiece is disqualified. The sound of such a gold shofar would symbolize the interests of the rich rather the public good.

Rabbi Avigdor Amiel, the chief rabbi of Tel Aviv in pre-state Palestine, commented on why the blessing is “To hear the sound of the shofar” rather than “To blow the shofar”: “Our people are blessed with more than enough shofar blowers who just want to blow their own horn. Who among us doesn’t want to be the one whose voice is heard, whose advice is followed, whose demands are met in Jewish and other matters? What we lack are listeners, people who will hear and internalize the idea of unity of purpose for our betterment and the betterment of all our people.”

09/06/2021

Cantor Birnbaum's thoughts for the first day of Rosh Hashanah:

Good yom tov and happy New Year 5782. We are disappointed that the synagogue will not reopen for the holidays this year because of a surge in COVID 19 case prevalence in Sullivan County, but we hope that we all will be granted a happy and healthy New Year so that we have the opportunity to celebrate the holidays and many happy occasions in the future.

The midrash in Vayikra Rabbah tells us, “בחודש הזה תחדשו מעשיכם”, In this month (Tishrei, the first month of the year), you should make your actions new again. G-d is saying, as it were, “מה דאזל אזל; מן הכא ולהלן נחל חושבנא”, what is done is done and gone; from here on, we begin a new accounting.

In the business world, at least once a year, businesses will do a thorough inventory to take stock and find out what shape the business is in. Did they make a profit or take a loss? What products sold well, and what products are staying on the shelves? What debts are owed to others, and what receivables do others owe to the business? In this way, they assess the viability of the business and figure out what needs to be done to enhance the performance of the business in the coming year.

So too with each and every one of us. Each of us at least once a year, at the time of the New Year, should go over our own personal balance sheets to examine which of our actions produced spiritual growth and which produced a loss so that we can assess where we stand and how to adjust our future actions to capitalize on our spiritual gains and limit our spiritual losses. When tallying up our actions at this time, we should also realize that this is the New Year not only for each of us individually but also for our people and, indeed, for the entire world. As last year’s page in the ledger is examined, we must determine whether we have fulfilled our duties to our fellow man, to our people, and to the world at large. Have our actions improved the lot of our people and contributed to society’s welfare, or have they detracted from them? Are our actions recorded on the profit side of the ledger contributing to the viability of the venture that we call life, or are our actions or lack of action recorded on the loss side of the ledger pushing the business of life into bankruptcy and ultimately closure?

As we perform our reckoning and turn the page on 5781 to start on the new page of 5782, let us bear in mind the words of the midrash and make our actions new again, new and improved, and may our Lord and Master once again the forgive last year’s debts and losses and grant us the opportunity to begin once again with a fresh start.

08/23/2021

09/27/2020

Neilah - closing service
Video includes an exerpt of the mincha haftarah (reading from Prophets at the afternoon service).

The closing service for Yom Kippur, plus part of the Haftarah from the afternoon service.

09/27/2020

Mussaf (additional) service - after Torah reading

The Mussaf service (including special holiday-specific prayers) for Yom Kippur.

09/27/2020

Yizkor

The memorial service, done on the morning of Yom Kippur.

09/27/2020

YOM KIPPUR

Candle light is a little emphasized aspect of the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur. Candles at home are lit at home at the beginning of Yom Kippur in honor of the holiday, just as is done for the Sabbath and other major holidays. In the synagogue of old which depended on candle light for illumination at night, the community would light many candles to brighten the synagogue in honor of the holiday; most synagogues in the modern era do this with electric lights instead of candles. The Havdalah ceremony at the conclusion of the Yom Kippur uses a candle that remained lit the entire holiday, unlike the Sabbath Havdalah which uses a candle that is lit at the end of the Sabbath. It is customary to light a yahrzeit memorial candle in memory of deceased relatives. There is also an old but neglected custom to light a candle for those in the family who are alive, the “gezunte licht”.

Midrash Rabbah is a compendium of classic rabbinic teachings on each of the books of the Torah and the five megilahs. In midrash Deuteronomy Rabbah, we find written: “Bar Kappara said: The soul and the Torah are likened to a lamp; the soul, as it is written, ‘The soul of man is the lamp of the Lord’ (Proverbs 20:27), and the Torah, as it is written, ‘For a commandment is a lamp, and the Torah is light’ (Proverbs 6:23). The Holy One, Blessed be He, says to a person, ‘My lamp is in your hand and your lamp is in My Hand; My lamp that is in your hand is the Torah and your lamp that is in My Hand is your soul; if you guard My lamp, I will preserve your lamp, but if you extinguish My lamp, I will extinguish your lamp.” A similar sentiment is found in midrash Leviticus Rabbah, but this time in reference to the menorah in the Tabernacle rather than the Torah. “Bar Kapparah opened with this lesson: ‘It is You who light my lamp’ (Psalms 18:29). The Holy One Blessed be He says to a person, ‘Your lamp is in My Hand and My lamp is in your hand’. Your lamp is in My Hand, as it is said, ‘The soul of man is the lamp of the Lord’ (Proverbs 20:27). My lamp is in your hand, ‘For kindling lamps continually’ (Leviticus 24:2). Says the Holy One Blessed be He, ‘If you light My lamp, I will light your lamp.’”

The Yom Kippur lights in the synagogue, those in memory of the departed, and those in honor of the living, seem to be connected to these classical rabbinic teachings. They are teaching us that our lives are enlightened and made more worthwhile when we support our tradition and our place of worship and keep their lights burning bright. In the merit of our resolve to memorialize our departed relatives and to support our tradition and our Jewish institutions, may we all enjoy a happy, healthy, safe and enlightened New Year.

09/25/2020

Torah reading for Yom Kippur

The Torah service for Yom Kippur.