I'll tidy my office . . .

When I retire . . .

How about you?

Democracy: "Not Quite Dead Yet" at BSBI

The Shameless, Naked Power-grab of the de facto leadership of BSBI crashed and burned last Sunday night.

The people who crafted a boat-load of amendments to consolidate their already boundless power, ended up walking out of their own meeting.

Respect for the process, and for the people who are rightfully to be "served" by the process, reached new lows.

President Berlin, who presided over this mess, needs to ask himself if he has been getting good advice, and just who has dropped him into this quagmire? And while he previously blamed his immediate predecessor, he cannot make such a claim this time around.

Stay tuned . . .

PS - I do believe, at the meeting, I heard the president say that "all new appointments" to the board that he had made were done with the board's approval. No doubt his definition includes the past presidents, because he appointed the current secretary to replace Gill Halevy without any prior discussion with the board. As was pointed out, past presidents are not members of the board, as they do not count towards a quorum. They have a life-time vote to keep the board stacked and under the raps of the de facto dictatorship. (Terms in bold are fresh in my mind, because they were used by speakers from the floor at the "meeting".) Perhaps in the heat of the moment, the president's memory was clouded, but I am sure the secretary, who has also served with distinction on the Board of Emmanuel, can refresh it for him.

The end of democracy at BSBI?

Exactly 1 year after the meeting deciding BSBI’s location issue, another meeting of historic importance is about to be held involving potential changes to congregation BSBI.

This discussion in the EC Forum is intended to look at the proposed amendments to BSBI’s constitution and by-laws in a level-headed way. Each of us needs to appraise the situation carefully, from the viewpoint of "the heart and the mind". We must try to maintain a positive outlook, and a sense of confidence and calm. Each of us must be fully in touch with our decisions and actions - and appraise their impact on our personal sense of growth and fulfillment.

Only one amendment really matters. It is in regard to the membership of the Board of BSBI. The proposed change will create 8 new positions on the board with full voting powers ( not to be confused with rights, but that is another matter.) These positions will be filled, not by election from the congregation, but by presidential appointment. In effect, BSBI’s democratic processes will be gutted.

True, it will take a 2/3 majority to pass this, but I have every confidence that those who have crafted these changes will make every effort to bring out their supporters to vote. Based on the turnout at the September 2006 meeting, where the new slate of officers was voted in by more than a 2/3 majority, I fully expect the amendments to be passed. The question is how to prepare for this.
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There are 3 important facts to focus on, when making your decisions about this:

1) that the New WAM provides choice

2) that BSBI does not fully support Orthodox observance

3) that change cannot be made from within BSBI

Choices for orthodox observance in Charleston:

The establishment and initial success of the New WAM has brought to Jewish Charleston a wonderful thing - choice. I am deeply grateful for this, and my gratitude extends to all those who have made it happen, from the "heavy-hitters" to the "bench-warmers", from those who remain members of BSBI, to those who have resigned their membership, from those who serve this community at the JCC, to those who have rendered support from the background, from those who are learned enough to lead and lain, to those who come to share the warmth of our fledgling "community". I draw particular fulfillment from knowing that my participation has brought the blessing of choice to others in return. It is crucial that we nurture and sustain the New WAM so that in time it will grow and continue to succeed.

BSBI does not fully support Orthodox observance:

Consider BSBI’s place in Jewish Charleston. Gone are the days when a person could make the claim that BSBI actively, fully, and wholeheartedly supports Orthodox observance in Charleston. Recall that a majority of the membership at last year’s location meeting indicated that downtown was not the optimal location (ie NOT their first-choice location) for BSBI to be under 1 roof. After a process of more than 2 years of searching, investigating and evaluating where BSBI could best be located "under one roof", the actions of the leadership led to BSBI Shabbat services occurring in 3 locations.

Finally, let us be clear on what history has taught us, time and time and time again - that

Change cannot, has not, and will not, be made from within BSBI.

On this point, let me say this - it took me long and bitter experience to learn this. I plead with the young parents in our congregation - I have been where you are now. I started out as idealistic. Surely, I thought, once you explained to people that keeping the main sanctuary downtown was stifling Orthodox Jewish vitality and growth, they would change their perspective. I made speeches at meetings about how the 2 location issue was a prescription for stagnation and decline. But, I said, "If you have services at or near the JCC, you will see vibrant changes in Charleston." Well, if they were ever going to listen, they would have done so by now, especially given that the proof is here to be seen. I began trying to do this at least 15 years ago, and got nowhere. Ben Chase says he has tried for 12 years, and even as president, he could not bring about change at BSBI.

For the sake of your and our Jewish futures, you will certainly have to look beyond BSBI.

And that is really all one needs to know - the rest, as the saying goes, "is commentary".
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The Options:

It is now possible to analyse the options, depending on one’s position.

For me and my family, the New WAM has given us a choice that we fully intend to exercise. I have been on the brink of resigning from BSBI for some time. If this amendment passes, I am done, and moving on.

If you are someone who wants to support the New WAM, but feels the link with BSBI is important, you had better start making calls, and speaking with all who share your view, to get them to show up for the vote. Even if the amendment does not pass, you have to ask yourself what it means to be a member of a shul where the leadership is so intent on serving only the needs of a select few, and where people’s personal and professional ethics evaporate in the conduct of shul business. (By the way, it is usually called "shul politics" with all the dirt that the term politics denotes. But it is really supposed to be shul business - and "business ethics" are a core value of Orthodox Judaism. Being a good Jew means doing all business, personal and shul business, fairly and ethically - then again, it is fair to ask, "Is BSBI really an Orthodox Shul?").

What if you are focused on BSBI’s assets? To this I say, you may be missing the point. A shul’s greatest asset is its active membership - its treasure is the joyous celebration of Shabbat on a regular basis. Forget the assets, money and power seem only to corrupt.

So, what if you are someone who wants these amendments to pass, to keep BSBI where it is, and how it is, because of whatever notion of family loyalty and "that’s how it has always been"? To you I say - So the shul that you don’t go to on Shabbat must stay downtown? Just be clear that what happens, what other people decide to do, that you are responsible for this, not just-as-much, but more-so, than they are.

In conclusion, please don’t tell me not to rock the boat, because I am doing all I reasonably can to steady it.

The new WAM - How it began

Sometime in early February 2007, the New WAM will reach its first anniversary. We have to work on it though, because right now, no-one knows the precise date for certain.

We will have to do some detective work, and will be happy for all the help we can get.

We can work back from the date of the BSBI "meeting" to decide on shul location. We know this was January 29th, 2006 - see Introduction to EC Forum.

In the wake of that meeting, there was a widespread reaction of outrage and antagonism to the BSBI leadership and its supporters. At the time, Nathan Kirshtein needed to attend minyan to say Kaddish. He did not feel he could approach such an occassion meaningfully by attending services downtown, so he called on friends to come to his home for Mincha and Maariv services. For morning services, he attended the school shacharit services at AHA.

Somewhere along the line, Nathan and several others decided to hold Shabbat services in the neighborhood, and with that things got under way.

We need a fix on the first Shabbat when services were held, and also want to know what the Parsha was. When we have this sorted out, we can begin to plan the 1st Anniversary Shabbat of the New WAM. In the meantime, go to question of the week, and tell us what you remember of "How it all began . . . "

Mazel tov, and best wishes.

Happiness is . . .

. . . you-know-who in the front seat of a Cessna on a sunny day in Charleston!

Happy Birthday Monsta!
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UPDATE: Feb 21, 2007 - Gid takes to the air . . .

Happy Birthday Giddy!

flying so high

Aerial photo: Morris Island lighthouse, SC. Photo by Simeon (Shimoni) Rosenthal Jan 07

Honoring Dr Martin Luther King Jr

A community gathering was held last Sunday, January 7th, at KKBE, honoring life & work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Sponsored by the YWCA and the Charleston Jewish Community Relations Council, the program included local clergy and community leaders, and musical selections by the Choir of Morris Brown AME Church & the Jewish Choral Society.

The keynote address was given by Anita Zucker, Director of Community Relations for the Intertech group. The program emphasized the bonds between the Jewish and African-American communities, their shared reflections on the vision and leadership of Dr King, and their common desire to fulfill the promises of a just society for all.

Dr King favored non-violent means in addressing matters of injustice, only when necessary, asserting that the use of civil disobedience was justified.

For further reflection on this from a biblical perspective, the chapter of Exodus dealing with Moses has particular relevance. The Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom, Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks, in a lesson available online at http://www.chiefrabbi.org, discusses an act of "civil disobience" in response to Pharoah's decree to the midwives Shifra and Puah that all Israelite male newborns be killed. In particular, he notes, the Torah is ambiguous in describing who the midwives were ( ie, were they Egyptian, Israelite or of some other nation), for the reason that . . . "their particular form of moral courage transcends nationality and race".

The reading (parsha) of Shemot, referred to above, goes on to descibe Moses' first three recorded actions, based on which Moses merited to lead the Israelites to freedom. First, he saves an Israelite slave and kills an Egyptian taskmaster. Next, he intervenes in a dispute between two Israelites, and in short order, having fled for fear of his life from Egypt, he intervenes to support the daughters of Midian from their unjust treatment at the hands of some shepherds. These actions symbolize the underpinnings of Jewish leadership: to protect the Jewish people from oppression arising externally, to make peace when there are inter-Jewish conflicts, and to address and mitigate injustices in society in general.

To see more material on these themes, you may go to the following links:

A parashat hashavua from B'nei Jeshurun Congregation,

from which

"Next we come to Moses who has now grown up. He goes out of the palace to see his brethren and to witness their labors. Moses has not forgotten his Hebrew roots. He is drawn to seeing their plight. When he sees a Hebrew slave being beaten, he acts to strike the taskmaster. Rabbinic tradition tells us that this act was one of three, that illustrate Moses' inability to tolerate injustice and thus made him a good candidate to lead the Israelites out of Egypt."

And: http://www.chabad.org/ - Moses: the birth of a leader.
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Acknowledgement: The photograph at top left shows the memorial to Dr King on the campus of Boston University: a flurry of doves, symbolizing peace, reaching to heaven. The photo was taken by Peter Wood.

Seeking Refuge

As 2006 drew to a close, I was pleased to make an unexpected discovery on the web. I came across the webpage version of an exhibition I had attended about a year before in South Africa. Called "Seeking Refuge", the exhibtion focused on the German-Jewish immigration to Johannesburg in the years leading up to World War ll.

The exhibition was held at the Goethe Institute in Johannesburg, SA, and featured a general review of German-Jewish history, and the important elements of the migration to South Africa. Half the exhibition then focused on biographic sketches of 25 people who had settled in Johannesburg. My family was represented in biographic panels about my mother, Eva Spangenthal and her father, Max Halberstadt, and my aunt Gerda Jospe (nee Rosenthal).

The photograph above is of my mother, Eva, taken by her father, Max Halberstadt. Their combined biography can be reviewed by clicking on this link - Eva Spangenthal

Click here for the general introduction to the exhibition, which includes a self-portrait of my grandfather, practicing his craft. From here you can find other links for a complete virtual tour of the exhibition.
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Update: February 14, 2007.

The work of my grandfather, Max Halberstadt, was published in a book by Wilfried Weinke. Wil has just received an award in Germany for his work.