Say a blessing.
VOTE!
Help protect the voting rights of others.
The 2020 election season is well under way and folks around the country will be gathering to caucus or heading to the polls very soon. Voting is a sacred act. As is customary in Jewish practice, we often sanctify such acts by saying a blessing.
Several years ago I wrote a blessing for Jews to recite as they gather to caucus, as they step into the voting booth, or before they seal the envelope on their vote-by-mail ballot.
In 2018 I turned that blessing into a Blessing Card that I sold for a nominal fee. I sold over 150 cards, 100% the proceeds went to support non-partisan voting rights organizations and voter registration campaigns.
With the 2020 elections carrying weighty implications for our country, our democracy, our families, and our communities, I hope that you will once again exercise your right to vote, say a blessing while doing so, and perhaps even help protect the voting rights of others while doing so.
Please consider purchasing one or more cards for your family and friends, for those who may be voting for the first time or for the 50th time, for your congregants, students, and colleagues.
Each card is printed on 3.5 x 2 inch premium business card stock. Cards may be purchased one-at-a-time, at $1.00 each or in packets of 10, for $8.00.
All proceeds will go to help support non-partisan
voting rights advocacy and voter registration organizations.
25 Blessing Cards for $20.00
$20.00
10 Blessing Cards for $8.00
$8.00
1 Blessing Card for $1.00
$1.00
Say a blessing.
Help protect the voting rights of others.
Two years ago, I wrote about how I approach voting as a sacred act. I was motivated to write a blessing for Jews to recite as they step into the voting booth or before they seal the envelope on their vote-by-mail ballot.
Blessing Card (front)
Blessing Card (back)
This year, I find myself in the same head-and-heart space, considering the implications of these 2018 mid-term elections will have on our country, our democracy, our families, and our communities. So, I’ve brought back the Blessing for Your Vote.
As a small contribution to the many “get out the vote” campaigns taking place, I have created and produced a limited number of Blessing Cards that are available for purchase. All proceeds will go to help support non-partisan voting rights advocacy and voter registration organizations.
Please consider purchasing one or more cards for your family and friends, for those who may be voting for the first time or for the 50th time, for your congregants, students, and colleagues.
Each card is printed on 3.5 x 2 inch premium business card stock. Cards may be purchased one-at-a-time, at $1.00 each or in packets of 10, for $8.00.
1 Blessing Card for $1.00
$1.00
10 Blessing Cards for $8.00
$8.00
I love to read, always have. I have vivid memories of enthusiastically participating in elementary school read-a-thons in support of the Multiple Sclerosis Society. Remember this guy?
In recent years, between a career, raising children, volunteer work, and then my ambitious pursuit of a doctoral degree I wasn’t always able to find the time or energy to read as much as I would have liked, or read what I wanted to read.
2019 was the year I found my time to read again! Having completed my doctoral work in April, I had more brain space and leisure time to read. Nowadays I find myself sometimes reading three books at a time: One to listen to during the many hours a week I spend in my car; I am a devoted Audible subscriber. I try to read a professional book during my workouts at the gym. I find the combination of the two mutually reinforces and strengthens my discipline to take care of my body and my mind. Finally, there is the book that sits by my bedside for nighttime reading. I am also grateful for my wonderful book group, women of varying ages and experiences who come together to expand our knowledge of the world and of ourselves. Those Thursday nights are often my favorite of the month!
So, like some of my other friends and heroes who read and share their lists at the end of the year, here is my list of reads from 2019.
- Born A Crime by Trevor Noah
- Waking Lions by Ayelet Gundar-Goshen
- Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor by Yossi Klein HaLevi
- Sapeins: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
- The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish
- After Anatevka by Alexandra Silber
- Circe by Madeline Miller
- The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye by David Lagercrantz
- The Secret History of Wonder Woman by Jill Lepore
- White Fragility by Robin Diangelo
- Creativity, Inc by Ed Catmull
- The Expats by Cris Pavone
- One is Not a Lonely Number by Evelyn Krieger
- Rabbi Akiba by Barry Holtz
- Witness: Lessons fro Elie Wiesel’s Classroom by Ariel Burger
- Refugee by Alan Gratz
- Portraits of Jewish Learning ed. by Diane Tickton Schuster
- Brave not Perfect by Reshma Saujani
- Starting Strong by Lois J. Zachary and Lory A. Fischler
- Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
- The Inspired Teacher: How to Know One, Grow One or Be One by Carol Frederick Steele
- A Full Measure of Happiness by Kenneth Golde
- Temple Mount by Keith Raffel
- Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
- Daring to Lead by Brene Brown
- Inside the Box: A Proven System of Creativity for Breakthrough Results by Drew Boyd & Jacob Goldenberg
- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
- Immigrant City by David Bezmozgies
- The Dreamt Land by Mark Arax
- Fair Play: A Game-Changing Solution for When You Have Too Much To Do (and More Life to Live) by Eve Rodsky
- Going Online with Protocols: New Tools for Teaching and Learning by Joseph P. McDonald, Janet Mannheimer Zydney, Alan Dichter
- Written in My Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon
- The Underground Railroad: A Novel by Colson Whitehead
- Here All Along: Finding Meaning, Spirituality, and a Deeper Connection to Life–in Judaism (After Finally Choosing to Look There) by Sara Hurwitz
Today, in the Central Valley in California, we mark Farmworker Appreciation Day.
Well, in my mind, every day should be farmworker appreciation day. While we may buy our produce, meat and dairy, our grains and nuts from large box stores or chain supermarkets, or hopefully from local farmers’ markets – it is the farm laborers who work hard to help us bring that food to our tables.
So today, as you gather around your Shabbat dinner tables, you may consider adding an additional blessing to the others your recite. Or, perhaps we can all add these words into our daily prayers of thanks and gratitude for the food we eat.
.ברוך אתה יי אלוהינו מלך העולם המוציא לחם מין הארץ
Baruch ata Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha-olam, ha-motzi lechem min ha’aretz.
Blessed are You, Adonai our God, sovereign of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.
מישביך אבותינו ואמותינו מברך את האנשים שעובדים בסדות בפרדסים ובביתי חרושת להביא לנו את האכל הטרי . והבריא הזאת
Mishebeirach avoteinu v’imoteinu, m’varech et ha-anashim she’ovdim b’sadot, b’pardasim, u’b’beitei-charoshet l’havi lanu et h-ochel ha’tari v’ha-bari ha’zot.
May the one who blessed our fathers and mothers bless the people who work in the fields and in the orchards and in the factories in order to bring to us this fresh and healthy food.
They say you are doing things right when you get hate mail.
Well, I must be doing something right, because I’ve received a very hateful piece of snail mail. You know its going to be a “good one” when it starts off with
Dear Ms. Winer,
I’m sorry I cannot refer to you as “Rabbi,” but I don’t believe women can serve as rabbis. To do so is misleading.
And that is the nicest part of the letter.
This particularly hateful piece of mail was in response to my comments regarding Brooke Ashjian, the current president of the Fresno Unified Board of Education. I suppose I could humor us all by quoting his letter in full, but here are just some of the juicier parts:
You of course, are interested in advancing LGBTQ culture, because you represent a queer version of Judaism. In fact, Reform has nothing to do with Judaism. Reform has led millions of Jews astray from G-d. Reform has caused as many casualties as Adolph Hitler. Judaism in Fresno is completely in shambles because of Reform…
Brooke Ashjian is not the evil one. Adherents to Reform are the evil ones. You are evil… You speak heretical words. You have publically misrepresented Judaism by advocating gay culture. You give credence to the position that radical feminists are full of sick ideas…
One day Reform Judaism will be destroyed and defeated…
You get the point.
But, he clearly misses the point – several of them actually.
First point: I do not deny Brooke Ashjian – or anyone else! – their personal beliefs.
What I do expect though, is that the leadership of the Fresno Board of Education – when serving in their capacities as leaders – uphold the values and policies of the school district.
When one sits in the School Board chambers, one is surrounded by posters that depict the goals, core beliefs and commitments of this district. Among the other worthy and admirable statements, included are the ideas that our district is committed to ensuring the safety of all of our students and our district is a place where diversity is valued. I expect the leadership of this district to uphold those core beliefs in word and deed when doing the work the district. Mr Ashjian has failed to hold himself to these commitments.
Second point: I will not get into a debate about which is better or more true, Reform or Orthodox Judaism. Each Jew choses how s/he wants to observe his/her Jewish life. Rather than arguing about the so-called sins or heresies of different ways of being Jewish, we should be embracing the multiple points of entry into Jewish life and ways of living authentic Jewish lives. Yes, there are different ways to be authentically Jewish! This has been true for millennia – Judaism has never been monolithic.
As I look back at the letter, the part that is most hurtful to me is this line:
Most people would be thoroughly crushed if they found out their child became a homosexual.
This man’s words tear at my heart. I KNOW DEEP DOWN IN MY SOUL that all people are created in the image of God, and all people are created in their own uniqueness – whether that means they have blue eyes, or red hair, are short or tall, are gay or straight. Were my child – or my niece or nephew or any child that I am close with – to tell me they were gay I would say, “I LOVE YOU! I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU! YOU ARE PERFECT JUST THE WAY YOU ARE.”
On this day before Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of Atonement – the holiest day of the Jewish year – I know that with regard to the sins this man accuses me of, I have nothing for which to be ashamed or for which to atone.
Dear President Ashjian,
I was not able to share my full thoughts with you at tonight’s Board of Education meeting due to the fact that you cut public comments down to 1 minute per person. So, I offer them here for you.
My name is Laura Novak Winer and I am a Jewish educator and a rabbi. My 25+ year career focuses on education of our youth and children. For the last 15 of these years I have been at the forefront of work on educating youth to develop a sense of sexual ethics and healthy, age-appropriate relationships with their peers, as well as on equipping parents and faith leaders with the tools they need to teach their children, congregants and parishioners to have these conversations with their youth through the lenses of their faith.
I believe that there is a time and a place for sexuality education in the home, in our places of worship AND in the public school. As adults committed to providing public education for all of our children we hold a collective responsibility to provide for the intellectual, social-emotional and physical growth of our children.
Tonight I am here, Mr. Ashjian to comment about your leadership as the president of this school board. Mr. Ashjian, I appreciate that you have a clean voting record. Yes, you follow the laws of this state regarding what types of education we are required to provide our children.
Yet, just as important are your words when you speak in your presidential capacity. As the president of this board, you have to represent the needs and interests of the greater Fresno Unified School District in both your deeds and with your words. You represent its mission, its values and its goals. Of course you have your own personal opinions about how, when and where sex education should take place. I do not deny you those opinions. But, when you sit behind this microphone, and when you speak in your capacity as the president of this board, you represent this district.
Your words in recent weeks have been hurtful to many in our community. As a Jew, I was personally and deeply offended by your comparison of the LGBT community and its allies to the Ottoman Turks. As a Jew, I understand your familial history. Yet your analogy is flawed! The LGBT community – like your family and mine were – are the unjustly disempowered. They were hated by the Turks and the Nazis just like our families were. Today, the LGBT community and its allies speak out in an effort to attain rights and acceptance, rather than deny those rights from others. As a mother, a rabbi, an educator, and a member of the Fresno community I was deeply offended by your comments to the Fresno Bee about your perceived dangers of comprehensive sexuality education.
You have spoken hateful and hurtful words, which cannot be taken back. The impossibility of undoing damage done by harmful words is underscored in a tale about a man who went through his community slandering his neighbors”
One day, feeling remorseful, he begged his rabbi for forgiveness and said he was willing to do penance. The rabbi told him to take several feather pillows, cut them open, and scatter the feathers to the winds. The man did so, but when he returned to tell the rabbi that he had fulfilled his request, he was told, “Now go and gather all the feathers.”
The man protested, “But that is impossible.”“Of course it is. And though you may sincerely regret the evil you have done and truly desire to correct it, it is as impossible to repair the damage done by your words as it will be to recover the feathers.”
Mr. Ashjian, as the president of this board, I urge you to consider what kind of leader you intend to be for our district. I hope that you will be one who find a way to heal the wounds that you have created for our LGBT youth and their families. I hope you will find a way to make amends to those who have been hurt, not by your voting record, but by the words you say as president.
Thank you.
Rabbi Laura Novak Winer
Today, September 4, 2017 is Labor Day in the US. This day is most often celebrated with BBQ, last days of summer, picnics and swimming pools, playing on the beach. In the Jewish calendar today is 13 Elul, 5777, the month before our Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah.
Elul is a time for reflection on themes related to the Jewish High Holy Days. At this time each year, friend and colleague Rabbi Phyllis Sommer assists us with this reflective work by suggesting a theme for each day in the month of Elul. Today, 13 Elul = Remember.
Here in #FresnoCounty today, I am remembering the true laborers of our community: those who toil in the fields and orchards, on the ranches and the processing plants in order for the rest of us – across this great nation – to have food delivered to our markets and to put on our tables to eat in comfort.
If Fresno County were a state, it would be the POOREST state in the US. While some government officials here in the #centralvalley earn 6 figure salaries, those who work in our fields are living at the poverty level, lucky if they can earn $15,000 a year.
As a Jew, as a person of faith, I often say a blessing before I eat a meal. I thank God for bringing me bread, food, sustenance. This blessing – Ha’Motzi – if one of the first blessings a young person learns to recite. The practice of reciting a grace before meals is something many faiths share.
Yet, it is not only God who brings us this sustenance. Shouldn’t it be incumbent upon us to also remember and offer blessings upon those who labored to grow and harvest this food? Once upon a time, most people probably did grow and harvest and prepare their own food. That is not the case anymore – except for some of my farmer friends (you know who you are!).
So, on this Labor Day, on this 13th day of Elul, in which we engage in the act of remembering, I offer this additional prayer to the words of the traditional Jewish blessing before eating. Perhaps we can all add these words into our daily prayers of thanks and gratitude for the food we eat.
.ברוך אתה יי אלוהינו מלך העולם המוציא לחם מין הארץ
Baruch ata Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha-olam, ha-motzi lechem min ha’aretz.
Blessed are You, Adonai our God, sovereign of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.
מישביך אבותינו ואמותינו מברך את האנשים שעובדים בסדות בפרדסים ובביתי חרושת להביא לנו את האכל הטרי . והבריא הזאת
Mishebeirach avoteinu v’imoteinu, m’varech et ha-anashim she’ovdim b’sadot, b’pardasim, u’b’beitei-charoshet l’havi lanu et h-ochel ha’tari v’ha-bari ha’zot.
May the one who blessed our fathers and mothers bless the people who work in the fields and in the orchards and in the factories in order to bring to us this fresh and healthy food.
