Last week at Shabbat services, I was honored with the first aliyah. Even though I belong to a very large congregation, as a Kohen, I am given the first aliyah two or three times a year. Being on the bimah this past week brought back a flood of memories, as it was the anniversary of my bar mitzvah. In particular, I thought back to my parents and other family members who have since died and how special I felt in their midst on the day of my bar mitzvah (probably more than a little nervous as well, but I seem to have forgotten that part).

This week's parashah, Emor, sets forth some special rules for the Kohanim, particularly in relation to exposure to the dead and physical requirements for being permitted to offer sacrifices and other priestly duties. I have a difficult time relating to most of those rules, but, nevertheless, being a Kohen has always been important to me. I remember my father explaining how he was a Kohen because his father was a Kohen and for all of the generations back to Biblical times his ancestors were Kohanim. Although it is doubtful that at such a young age, I understood the significance of the Kohanim in Jewish law and tradition, it did make me feel a connection to my grandfather and those before him whom I had never known.

This week, as we read those Torah verses that delineate the particular rules for the Kohanim, I doubt I will feel much of a connection to the words. But, I will feel a connection to the people those words have applied to over the past three thousand years, and maybe, I'll feel a little special as well.

Shabbat Shalom. 

Lee I. Sherman
President/CEO

Our recently concluded annual conference in Houston was a success on many levels. There was a wealth of information shared at workshops on program design and implementation, current trends in the social service sector, and concrete advice on how to improve your organization. Our opening plenary speaker, author Rachel Simon, challenged us to continue our good work in helping people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to live lives with meaning, dignity, and respect, and she told a story of beautiful girl(s) that brought many to tears. In his closing plenary remarks, Seth Cohen, Director of Network Initiatives for the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation, and president of the board of JFCS Atlanta, instructed us in the power of networks and how we can increase our capacity to serve by empowering our networks to work with and for our agencies. But, most of all, it is always an energizing experience to spend time with professionals and lay leaders who are so passionate about the work that they do in their communities and how that work reflects the best of our Jewish values.

We need the energy of our gatherings because the work we do can often be difficult and isolating. Counseling a family in grief or providing essential home care to an elderly client who lives alone are individual tasks, but they are connected to a larger whole. Our tradition teaches us that strength comes from the families and communities to which we belong. This week we read the double parashot of Aharei Mot - Kedoshim. We begin with the deaths of Aaron's sons for apparent transgressions and then learn of the procedures for expiation of sin and the responsibility for all to participate in the Day of Atonement. In Kedoshim, we read of the collective responsibility to care for the elderly, the disabled, and the disadvantaged among us.

Each year, the commitment I see from the attendees at AJFCA's annual conference assures me that the people who work for our member agencies across the United States and Canada take seriously their roles in caring for their communities. It is truly a network to which I am glad to belong.

Shabbat Shalom

Lee I. Sherman
President/CEO

Here in Baltimore, spring has come early this year. We had a warm winter, some incredibly warm temperatures in March, and now we have been in full bloom for the past several weeks. We have already passed the early season jonquils and daffodils and the azaleas in our yard have been at peak color for the last few days, at least three weeks earlier than usual. This advanced coming of the flowering season reminds me of the old Jewish lament about our holidays: "Passover (or fill in the blank of your favorite chag) is always either early or late, it is never on time!"

Well, this year it seems to me that Passover is very much "on time." At our Seders, we bless and share the karpas as a symbol of the emergence of spring. The festival is all about the departure from a dark, somber period of slavery (our winter), into the brilliance of a new life as a free people with our own homeland. Passover is the spring planting festival, just as it marks the rooting of the Israelites as a community. And, just as each spring the cycle of new growth begins again, so in each generation of the Jewish people there is a connection to the traditions of the past and a renewal of the spirit of those who fled Egypt.

Enjoy the early spring if you are having one. Celebrate the concluding days of Passover for their re-energizing moments. Forget about the calendar and know that we are truly "on time" this year.

Chag Pesach Sameach and Shabbat Shalom. 

Lee I. Sherman
President/CEO

Each year, in preparation for the seder I am soon to lead, I spend some time looking around for something new to bring to my family's retelling of the Passover story. This year, the publication of the New American Haggadah, edited by Jonathan Safran Foer, with translations of the Hebrew into English by Nathan Englander, and designed by Oded Ezer, made my search easy. This haggadah is visually stunning and intellectually stimulating, while presenting the traditional Hebrew text with a beautiful and direct English text. This haggadah will be a rich resource for my seder preparation for years to come.

Throughout the New American Haggadah, are scattered commentaries written by four different writers, Nathaniel Deutsch, Jeffrey Goldberg, Rebecca Newberger, and Lemony Snicket. Each writer brings his or her own perspective to a common theme or portion of the seder. I was particularly struck by a difficult dilemma presented in Goldberg's discussion of the wicked son and what this son's attitude says about the fate of the Jewish people. He sums up his commentary by saying, "There are so many challenges embedded in Judaism, but perhaps this is the greatest one of all: How do we balance our faith's demand to care especially for our fellow Jews, and care especially for the entire world, at the same time?"

While this is, indeed, a challenge, it does not need to be an either/or proposition. At AJFCA, we have partnered with Repair the World on an initiative to promote civic engagement for young adults with our member agencies. An op-ed to be published by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, which I co-authored with Jon Rosenberg, makes the case that it is possible "to care especially for our fellow Jews," and also to "care especially for the entire world." This is precisely what our Jewish family service agencies have been doing for more than 150 years and which we will continue to do for many more years to come. This is our response to the wicked son who by his question divorces himself from his community. It is a message important to our retelling of the Passover story.

Shabbat Shalom and Chag Pesach Sameach.

Lee I. Sherman
President/CEO