Rosh Hashanah
And if we are able to become pres-
ent, we will also be able to see that
own realm is now divine.

“We need to look for God in the lit-
tle details of life,” she said. “What we
often think are mundane moments
are fi lled with potential for magnifi -
cence and connection.”
Rabbi Aaron Gaber of the
Conservative Congregation Brothers
of Israel in Newtown believes that, in
5783, we should begin to choose
“the infi nity game” over “the fi nite
game.” What he means is that Jews
must focus less on short-term goals,
relating to events like elections and
economic cycles, and more on long-
term goals that are not about a mate-
rial reward.

In his sermon, Gaber plans to dis-
cuss a synagogue eff ort to send
honey bears to congregants to wish
them a happy new year. It would be
less expensive to make members
come to the temple to pick them up.

But then, the “sweet new year” sen-
timent from leaders to congregants
Spiritual leaders in the Conservative,
Reform and Reconstructionist traditions
alike are asking their congregants to
look inward, not outward, this year.

would not have been as clear.

He is also going to talk about
Project Tzedek, a partnership
between CBOI and a local school
district to work on issues like food
insecurity and educational access.

There is no specifi c goal with the
partnership — just a general one to
try and make things better.

“At the end of the game, I won’t
know what the score is, but that we
are working towards bettering our-
selves and bettering others,” Gaber
said. Rabbi Nathan Weiner of the
Conservative Congregation Beth
Tikvah in Marlton, New Jersey, lost
his 47-year-old brother earlier this
year. So, on the holidays, he wants
to talk about how “life doesn’t end
with death.”
The Jewish God is a God of one-
ness, according to Weiner. But what
is oneness when it comes to the
cycle of life and death? And return-
ing to the Earth? And a soul that is
without end?
You can neither see nor touch
Weiner’s brother’s presence in the
lives of the people he left behind,
like his two teenage children. But he
is still there. They can feel his infl u-
ence and refer to what he might say.

“Being is eternal,” Weiner said.

With that intense focus on spiritu-
ality, rabbis from all denominations
Rabbi Danielle Parmenter of
Darchei Noam in Ambler is
asking her congregants to step
back this High Holiday season,
and to rediscover the spiritual.

Photo by Debbie Goldberg
are embracing Orthodoxy this year.

“To the spiritual class of people,
we do not need world events to spur
us to a realization of what is lacking,”
Leizerowski concluded. “We believe
in a God.” JE
jsaff ren@midatlanticmedia.com
Shanah Tova!
Make this year
extra sweet with
Kosher favorites at ROSH HASHANAH
and all year long.

2022 24
SEPTEMBER 15, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM