What a beautiful Shabbos!
My wife and I took our kids (well, we can't just leave them) to Boynton Beach for Shabbos - what an enjoyable weekend! I blogged about why we enjoy Shabbos there once before, so we need not repeat.
But - man! Now that we are in the dead of winter here in Florida (not that we would know because it's in the 80s during the day and 60s at night), people are starting to come down to visit. Frequently. And with their families.
This Shabbos, the shul which had thirty people in attendance (men and women altogether) on Rosh Hashana, had approximately 75 adults and 30 kids! To make the point of the influx of numbers in attendance, the gala kiddush - which was indeed gala - was so good, there was no food leftover. And no one walked away hungry either. (Though I am sure everyone went home to enjoy lunch). My 4 year old son asked me, "Abba, was there any cake?" No - not a single birthday. Thank God for lollypops!
Speeches
I spoke 5 times: Friday night, pre-davening parsha class, Morning Sermon, pre-Mincha afternoon class, and at Seudah Shlishiss.
Friday night
Two approaches to what happened when Yehuda approached Yosef:
1. Went close to speak with him softly - as Koheles says "The words of the righteous are heard when spoken gently." Yehuda wanted to make sure Yosef would hear him out. If they would resort to a shouting match, nothing would get accomplished.
2. The Kotsker rebbe says, "Vayigash Eilav Yehuda" means "Yehuda approached himself." Before a person presents himself to royalty or any figure in a powerful position, it is important to be true to yourself, to know who you are and what you want out of your next human encounter. Yehuda needed to come close to his own true identity to be able to approach Yosef.
Sermon
The gyst of the sermon boiled down to two points:
1. The reaction of Yosef''s brothers to his revealing his identity is one of pure stupefication. They have nothing to say. The Talmud (Chagiga 4b) says Rabbi Elazar would cry when he read this verse because of the scary nature of its consequences. Imagine how embarrassed Yosef's brothers were, when he, a brother, reminded them of their evil deed of selling him. That embarrassed feeling is what it is like - though much worse - when God "calls us" on our inconsistent behavior.
2. To improve our overall relationship with God through prayer, we ought to follow Yosef's lead when he cleared out the room to address his brothers. Yosef wanted to achieve a unique spiritual connection with his brothers, and anything which would stand in the way or distract him needed to leave the room. The Slonimer rebbe says this is how a person must pray.
Think of what it means to take out all people from our presence, all distractions - and now we are more ready to pray to God.
The Parsha Drama Experience
(Parsha Drama is a dramatic presentation of the Torah reading, aimed at children of all ages)
I heard I heard... Someone (we won't mention who) got a little excited when playing Yaakov finding out that Yosef is still alive. And the whole shul heard it in the middle of the announcements. We'll try to tone it down next time. No promises.
Feedback
The entire effort is worth every minute because people give the most genuine and appreciated feedback on the Torah and thoughts I prepare and share.
And the compliments we've gotten about our kids (so cute! you have a beautiful family! "kein yirbu!" etc etc) make my wife and I want to come back for more.
Overall
What a genuine and friendly place. We are glad to be having this experience this year. It is tremendously rewarding to prepare classes and sermons. I enjoy the work, and the payoff (what can I do? - as an actor I enjoy a good performance, especially when audience members tell you how much they enjoy), and look forward to our next visits - still during the January break times when we will continue to enjoy larger crowds - which only enhance the davening - and the warmth of the community that is Anshei Chesed of Boynton Beach.
Important Final Thought
This past Thursday was the first yahrzeit of David Bilowit, ע"ה. The president, Adam Rosen, gave a warm and heartfelt tribute to his memory, not only on account of his special status as a founding member of Anshei Chesed, but as the most senior member of Anshei Chesed. Rabbi Kossowsky also spoke warmly to David's wife, expressing the need to celebrate his life and all that he meant to everybody, even as we are saddened at his no longer being with us.
It was a fitting and heartwarming tribute to a man who meant a lot to the shul.
Showing posts with label Boynton Beach. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Boynton Beach. Show all posts
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Shabbos in Boynton Beach
This blog post was written in October 2009. Looking back now over 15 years later, it is hard to imagine this reality any more. The community has exploded in its growth. There are easily over 600 homes, condos and apartments owned by Orthodox Jews in the local area - many for "snowbirds" (all of winter) and "snowflakes" (come in for weekends or for short stints), as well as many full-timers and younger families.. What you'll read below is a little nostalgic, because things have changed dramatically in the neighborhood.
One example - in the last two years, possibly the largest (or close to it) Kosher Supermarket in South Florida opened up in Boynton Beach - Kosher Central. There still isn't a school in the local neighborhood, but there are various shul options that have also opened, whether for Shabbos and Yom Tov, or a little off the beaten path of the main road in town.
Check out accbb.org to see the kinds of things which are going on at Anshei Chesed today!
**************
One aspect of my job this year consists of being the part-time or visiting rabbi in Anshei Chesed Congregation of Boynton Beach. Anshei Chesed is the Ashkenazic shul in a relatively sizable Orthodox community in Boynton Beach. We have arranged to come for many shabboses throughout the 5770 calendar year. [See my latest blog about Anshei Chesed from April 2012] [See Part III here!!! Lots of amazing things happening in Boynton Beach!]
Top 5 Reasons Why My Family and I Love Going to Boynton Beach for Shabbos
1. Small and Intimate Crowd
The congregation consists of about 15 to 20 families that live in the neighborhood year-round. In addition to these families, there are a number of so-called "snowbirds" who live in Florida from November until Pesach time who make the shul's membership and wintertime attendance considerably greater.
Because the crowd has been relatively small until now, everyone participates in the minyan in some way every shabbos (this will change when we have 50 people in the men's section on a shabbos). Whether a person serves as baal tefillah, reads the Torah, is the gabbai or gets an aliyah, no one is left out. The decorum has been very good as well.
Also, because everyone knows everyone else, the age gaps are dropped. There are some people with very young children, and some people in their seventies and eighties. But everyone knows everyone else by name, all are friendly, and the senior members delight in seeing the children of the younger families.
2. No pressure
The shul is so chilled out. There is no pressure to dress any way, there are no fashion shows, and no attempts to outdo anyone - neither overtly or covertly. [I would say in most places no one means to put such pressures on others, but the pressures nonetheless exist. Not so in AC of BB.]
There is also no pressure to do anything other than what people come to shul to do: To pray to God, in the company of like-minded people, and to enjoy each other's company in celebration of the holy day.
3. Appreciation
People genuinely appreciate what others do to make the minyanim run smoothly. Everyone who comes in is greeted by those already present. Attendees appreciate that others have made the effort to come.
Those who play the leadership roles are appreciated for doing their jobs efficiently and without shtick. The person who serves as baal tefillah (whoever he may be for whichever part of the service) is given due thanks and notice. The persons who share Torah-reading responsibilities are quite skilled in the art of Torah reading, and are appreciated as such.
4. In my element
Some rabbis enjoy speaking and teaching. I thrive on the opportunity to serve as rabbi on shabbos. I enjoy preparing and look forward to delivering sermons. I get a special thrill out of preparing classes, and a tremendous satisfaction out of sharing what I've prepared, and challenging participants to anticipate the next point in a class before we learn it from a text.
Outside of a class I may give, there are two types of questions people will ask: Ones I can answer off the cuff, and those for which I need to get back to them. When the former type of question is raised, there is a tremendous satisfaction which comes from not only answering it, but explaining the reasoning, and getting a response such as "I never knew that was the reason."
5. Like a vacation
My family has come to enjoy living our shabboses in Boynton Beach with minimal amenities. We bring just enough food for our meals (and snacks), we bring legos and baby legos (which are much bigger than regular legos), and a few books, and we relax and enjoy. The kids use their imaginations in their playing, and it's a delight to see them adjust to the change in scenery (the shul has arranged for us to stay in a furnished vacation home, which makes our stay so enjoyable).
And when we go out to take a walk, we meet new people every time, and enjoy being the "new faces on the block."
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT ANSHEI CHESED
ANSHEI CHESED CONGREGATION (O)
P.O. Box 740291
Boynton Beach, FL 33474
www.accbb.org
Check out accbb.org to see the kinds of things which are going on at Anshei Chesed today!
**************
One aspect of my job this year consists of being the part-time or visiting rabbi in Anshei Chesed Congregation of Boynton Beach. Anshei Chesed is the Ashkenazic shul in a relatively sizable Orthodox community in Boynton Beach. We have arranged to come for many shabboses throughout the 5770 calendar year. [See my latest blog about Anshei Chesed from April 2012] [See Part III here!!! Lots of amazing things happening in Boynton Beach!]
Top 5 Reasons Why My Family and I Love Going to Boynton Beach for Shabbos
1. Small and Intimate Crowd
The congregation consists of about 15 to 20 families that live in the neighborhood year-round. In addition to these families, there are a number of so-called "snowbirds" who live in Florida from November until Pesach time who make the shul's membership and wintertime attendance considerably greater.
Because the crowd has been relatively small until now, everyone participates in the minyan in some way every shabbos (this will change when we have 50 people in the men's section on a shabbos). Whether a person serves as baal tefillah, reads the Torah, is the gabbai or gets an aliyah, no one is left out. The decorum has been very good as well.
Also, because everyone knows everyone else, the age gaps are dropped. There are some people with very young children, and some people in their seventies and eighties. But everyone knows everyone else by name, all are friendly, and the senior members delight in seeing the children of the younger families.
2. No pressure
The shul is so chilled out. There is no pressure to dress any way, there are no fashion shows, and no attempts to outdo anyone - neither overtly or covertly. [I would say in most places no one means to put such pressures on others, but the pressures nonetheless exist. Not so in AC of BB.]
There is also no pressure to do anything other than what people come to shul to do: To pray to God, in the company of like-minded people, and to enjoy each other's company in celebration of the holy day.
3. Appreciation
People genuinely appreciate what others do to make the minyanim run smoothly. Everyone who comes in is greeted by those already present. Attendees appreciate that others have made the effort to come.
Those who play the leadership roles are appreciated for doing their jobs efficiently and without shtick. The person who serves as baal tefillah (whoever he may be for whichever part of the service) is given due thanks and notice. The persons who share Torah-reading responsibilities are quite skilled in the art of Torah reading, and are appreciated as such.
4. In my element
Some rabbis enjoy speaking and teaching. I thrive on the opportunity to serve as rabbi on shabbos. I enjoy preparing and look forward to delivering sermons. I get a special thrill out of preparing classes, and a tremendous satisfaction out of sharing what I've prepared, and challenging participants to anticipate the next point in a class before we learn it from a text.
Outside of a class I may give, there are two types of questions people will ask: Ones I can answer off the cuff, and those for which I need to get back to them. When the former type of question is raised, there is a tremendous satisfaction which comes from not only answering it, but explaining the reasoning, and getting a response such as "I never knew that was the reason."
5. Like a vacation
My family has come to enjoy living our shabboses in Boynton Beach with minimal amenities. We bring just enough food for our meals (and snacks), we bring legos and baby legos (which are much bigger than regular legos), and a few books, and we relax and enjoy. The kids use their imaginations in their playing, and it's a delight to see them adjust to the change in scenery (the shul has arranged for us to stay in a furnished vacation home, which makes our stay so enjoyable).
And when we go out to take a walk, we meet new people every time, and enjoy being the "new faces on the block."
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT ANSHEI CHESED
ANSHEI CHESED CONGREGATION (O)
P.O. Box 740291
Boynton Beach, FL 33474
www.accbb.org
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