A: The upcoming Tzedek v’Shalom seder hosted by is different from a family seder in a variety of ways. In fact, it is different from seders the congregation has hosted in the past.

The 2012 Tzedek v’Shalom Community Seder will take place on the eighth night of Passover — not one of the first two nights. Rabbi Anna Boswell-Levy, currently on maternity leave, will not even attend. Instead, Bobbie Posmontier will lead the creative celebration and promises lots of singing and “a spectacular rendition of Chad Gadya [a traditional Passover song] as never experienced before — with 18-part harmony!” With a voice reminiscent of Eartha Kitt’s, Bobbie always makes a group to comfortable and eager to sing along. Ralph Posmontier will accompany on drums — as he usually does at our services. All are encouraged to bring a small instrument and add their voices.

The seder will be family friendly, with the our children presenting a short play. In addition, we will introduce a social service project chosen by its members for the entire congregation — children and adults — with the Homeless Shelter, which operates under the auspices of the Family Service Association of Bucks County.

Finally, the seder will be completed with a festive meat/pareve potluck meal. In addition, people bring their own matzah and wine selection.

In keeping with Tzedek v’Shalom’s tradition, there is no charge for the seder. An RSVP is requested, however, so that set-up includes space for everyone.

The Tzedek v’Shalom Community Seder will take place Friday, April 13 at 6 p.m. at Newtown Friends Meetinghouse, 219 Court Street, Newtown, PA 18940. For more information or to RSVP, call (215) 860-0119 and someone will return your call.

Click here to see a flyer about the Tzedek v’Shalom Community Seder 2012.

Kudos to Rabbi Anna (and to Naomi for a wonderful and timely press release).

Check out our TvS in the News page for more!

Tomato Workers Justice

Last fall, on Yom Kippur, the solemn Jewish fast day, Rabbi Anna Boswell-Levy of congregation Tzedek v’Shalom took what many would consider a bold risk. She held a tomato up in front of her congregants at services.

“Let us take a look at the humble tomato,” She began. “Do we know where it came from? … What hands touched these foods, how many steps were involved in bringing this one tomato all the way from the field to the market? When we think about making the best food choices for our family or ourselves, we usually focus on the nutritional content of our foods these days, eating organic and natural whenever possible. But still, we are largely divorced from a basic knowledge of where our food comes from — the process of food production. We don’t really consider the working conditions of the people who picked the fruit and vegetables we eat.”

The risk was not that Rabbi Boswell-Levy was tempting her congregants with food; it was that she dared to exhort her listeners to actually act to “Untie the ropes of the yoke!” as the traditional Yom Kippur reading from the prophet Isaiah urges.

Boswell-Levy explained that a few weeks earlier, with an interdenominational group of rabbis, she had visited the small town of Immokalee, Florida, to learn about and witness the conditions of the people who pick 30% of all tomatoes sold in the United States. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers, the CIW, hosted them.

“You can hear about these people, and you can read articles chronicling their stories, but it’s a wholly different experience to meet them, to see where they live, to see the vast farms and fields where they pick the tomatoes for 12 hours a day.… In the most extreme cases, farmworkers are held against their will and forced to work for little or no pay. Federal civil rights officials have successfully prosecuted seven slavery operations involving more 1000 workers in Florida’s fields since 1997, prompting one federal prosecutor to call Florida ‘ground zero’ for modern day slavery.”

The CIW has made amazing progress since it started, actively assisting the Department of Justice with ongoing cases and providing invaluable outreach and education to people who would not directly approach the US government. The workers also identified specific ways they want change, such as the establishment of an “enforceable Fair Food Code of Conduct.”
Although nine major buyers — including the biggest fast food chains such as McDonalds, Burger King, KFC, and Taco Bell, had signed on, Trader Joe’s, the popular local supermarket, had not. Trader Joe’s claimed to have endorsed the principles of Fair Food Code of Conduct, but conspicuously declined to actually sign them and had not taken action to uphold them.

Rabbi Boswell-Levy believed Trader Joe would be very responsive to consumer feedback. So she urged her congregants to take action.

Tzedek v’Shalom’s rabbi has no idea what actions her listeners took. But she herself, a board member of Rabbis for Human Rights — North America since 2005, continued her own efforts. During the Jewish fall harvest festival of Sukkot, for example, she stood with Rabbi Lauren Grabelle Hermann, the rabbi of Kol Tzedek in West Philly, at a Trader Joe’s demonstration in Center City. She spoke about her experiences and what she had witnessed in Florida. And she led the group in delivering a stack of letters to the manager there that customers entering the store had signed, asking them to honor worker’s rights and the CIW agreement.

And on Thursday, February 9, Rabbi Anna Boswell-Levy exuberantly emailed Tzedek v’Shalom this news from her colleague at Rabbis for Human Rights — North America: “Mazal tov to Trader Joe’s on signing an agreement today with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers to buy tomatoes only from companies that implement a set of labor standards including a zero tolerance policy for human trafficking, a zero tolerance policy for sexual harassment, a penny more a pound for tomatoes, and basic safety protections.”

The rabbis had just hung a “mezuzah of justice” at the new Trader Joe’s store in Naples, Florida.

Here’s a picture of the kids in action, working hard to decorate the Sukkah….

 Canned Beans Kosher; lower salt preferred

 Canned Fruit Kosher; lower sugar preferred

 Canned Vegetables Kosher; lower salt preferred, no carrots

 Peanut Butter Kosher; lower salt preferred

 Soup Kosher; lower salt preferred

Canned Fish (canned tuna, salmon, sardines, etc.)

                        (Please no bulk sizes)

Please bring your cans to services on Rosh Hashanah, Kol Nidre, Yom Kippur.  There will be a box in the entrance way at Newtown Friends Meeting House.  

Mazon:

It’s Yom Kippur.  You and your family have just fasted for the day.  Think about taking the money you would have spent on food for this day and make a donation to Mazon to help feed those who go hungry every day.

Mazon is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to preventing and alleviating hunger among people of all faiths and backgrounds. Since its founding in 1985, MAZON, which means “food” or “sustenance” in Hebrew, has been the only national Jewish organization dedicated exclusively to fighting hunger. MAZON practices and promotes a multi-faceted approach to hunger relief, recognizing the importance of responding to hungry peoples’ immediate need for nutrition and sustenance while also working to advance long-term solutions. This approach symbolizes our desire to embody twin Jewish ideals: tzedakah and tikkun olam.

You  can make a donation three different ways:

• Online with credit card or e-check at http://www.mazon.org/donate/
• By Phone at 1-800-813-0557
• By Mail with a check, money order or credit card:

Rabbi Anna Boswell-Levy will be leading the discussion, where the following aspects of planning the Bar/Bat Mitzvah will be explored:

• The Physical – Planning the Logistics
• The Emotional – What are your feelings surrounding this lifecycle event?
• The Intellectual – How will you grow through this process?
• The Spiritual – Connections to Judaism – individually and through community

Our vision for Tzedek v’Shalom for these holy days and beyond is that we welcome everyone into our community regardless of one’s background or finances.  Especially during these difficult economic times, we think it is important that we take strength in our diversity and in the power of community.

If you are interested in learning more or  joining us, please call the Tzedek v’Shalom main number at 215-860-0119 or contact Rabbi Anna Boswell-Levy directly at 215-287-5128 or rabbianna@gmail.com.

Note: For important parking information, click here.

Tzedek v’Shalom 5772 (2011) High Holiday Schedule

Saturday Sept 24: 7:30-10:30pm Selichot Observance and Movie Screening at the home of Diane and Arnie Gold – Havdalah and movie screening with discussion to follow

Sept 28-30: Rosh Hashanah Services*

Erev Rosh Hashanah: Wednesday, Sept 28, 6pm – 9pm
Family Service followed by Dairy Pot Luck Dinner

Rosh Hashanah Day 1: Thursday, Sept 29, 9:30am – 12:30pm
Children’s Service and Program at 11am
Tashlich immediately following services at Newtown Creek at the old Newtown Commons (we’ll have directions!)

Rosh Hashanah Day 2: Friday, Sept 30, 9:30am – 12:30pm
Tikkun Rosh Hashanah – Learning Sessions & Songs

Oct 7-8: Yom Kippur Services*

Kol Nidre: Friday, Oct 7, 6pm – 9pm – Please bring a tallit!

Yom Kippur: Saturday, Oct 8, Services 9:30am – 1:30pm
Children’s Service and Program at 11am
Afternoon Learning Sessions, Contemplative Prayer & Song, 1:45 – 4:45pm

Neilah/Concluding Service Followed by Break Fast: 5pm – 9pm
Bring your shofar!

*All services will be held at Newtown Friends Meeting House.
219 Court St. Newtown, PA 18940

For more information, please contact Membership Chair Linda Gold at (215) 860-0119 or lingold8@verizon.net.

To download our Religious School Enrollment form, visit our Religious School Page.

Life is easier when you feel ready for the next big thing, and anticipating what is to come helps us feel more in control over the direction of our lives.  But so often something comes to remind us just how little control we do have. There, right in that moment when you…

…place the ring on her finger,
…receive a letter beginning with “We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted…,”
…hold in your hands the keys to the car, the keys to independence,
…lose a game to your child where you were not trying to let them win,
…hold a Torah and recite the Shema as a Bat Mitzvah, or as a newly-minted Jew,
 
Or when you…
 
…see the place once occupied by someone of importance to you, empty,
…hear the words “Baruch Dayan ha’Emet” – blessed is the true Judge,
…make the Thanksgiving or Passover dish that your mother or grandmother had always made,
…experience the first time that your body simply will not allow you to do what it has allowed you to do for your whole life,
 
These are all liminal moments, happy and sad, moments in life when we become very aware that we are on the threshold of change. Our lives are full of them, whether we are conscious of them or not.  I believe that Judaism helps us to become more aware of them, so that we can appreciate these moments of transition and turn them into opportunities for transformation. 
 
This may sound awfully like a Holy Holiday sermon topic, and it is.  We’re at the six month marker from the next High Holiday season, which in itself is another kind of Jewish New Year.  We are at the beginning of the cycle of months.  Nissan, the month of Passover, begins on April 5th, and is considered the first month of the Jewish year.  (Tishrei, the month of the Rosh Hashanah and Days of Awe, is the seventh month.) 
 
Why so many New Years?  Perhaps it is because Judaism relishes each holiday, mile markers, new month, new month, and birthday as signaling the possibility for change.  Change is good, even when it hurts.  It’s these liminal moments that help us realize the precious urgency of life, pushing us out of our comfort places and into new growth.  The Jewish lifecycle and year-cycle celebrates the liminal moment, big and small: the beginning and ending of Shabbat, every sunset and sunrise, the first buds of spring, and first cries of new life.
 
Pesach is the liminal holiday par excellence.  During Pesach, especially those first nights of seder, we are no longer oppressed, but we also haven’t loosed the bonds of slavery completely either.  We search for questions as we grope for our new selves and an undetermined future.  We are encouraged to be neither slaves nor free people, but to feel ourselves as in between as possible.
 
This Pesach, I hope we all experience the profundity and sense of human vulnerability that come when we choose to linger in the liminal space.  Maybe you’ll write about it or make a ritual out of it, perhaps you’ll say a blessing like the Shehechiyanu.  Because it is a blessing to be fully human: to be in a state of not knowing, to not always feel in control of our lives, to feel the need to reach out in some way. 
 
And as a result, may we find ourselves changed, renewed, and transformed.
 
Biv’racha – with blessing,
Rabbi Anna