Congregation Tikvoh Chadoshoh

The Dark of the Moon

A relentless stream of endings and new beginnings seems to be pressing in upon us.

Today (as I write) is 29 Kislev. As the sun sets tonight the month of Kislev ends, and tomorrow it will rise on a new month--the New Moon, Rosh Chodesh--the month of Tevet. On December 21 the solar calendar passes winter solstice, and the days, thankfully, will begin to lengthen once again. A few days later we observe the secular New Year:  2009 will roll into 2010 and a new decade will begin. One shabbat into 2010, and we will end the Book of Genesis / Bereishit and begin Shemot / the Book of Exodus. One week hence we again pass Rosh Chodesh, another New Moon, and the month of Sh'vat begins.

We modern city-dwellers may not be aware of it, but surrounding Rosh Chodesh are three nights in which the moon is not visible--the Dark of the Moon--three nights every single month. The moon waxes, becomes full, wanes, and yet does not immediately wax again! It lies dark, seemingly dormant, for three whole nights before we enjoy its sweet light again. The moon itself tells us: wait patiently, there is something brand new and wonderful in store, but you must walk through three nights of darkness in order to reach it. The Lights of Chanukah which we are lighting right now foretell the light we will enjoy when the waiting is over.

On shabbat, January 9, the 23rd of Tevet, we will begin reading again from the Book of Exodus, our seminal origin-story as a Jewish Nation. Our People did not go from Egypt to the Promised Land overnight. It was many weeks before they came to Sinai, and 40 years before crossing the Jordan into the Land. They endured 40 years of "Dark of the Moon," 40 years of "between time" when they were not certain what would become of them. And yet they had a guiding hand the whole time.

New beginnings are nerve-wracking, unbalancing. It takes time to reach a new equilibrium.  Dante wrote at the beginning of the Comedia: "In the middle of the road of my life I awoke in a dark wood, where the true way was wholly lost." He refers to a darkness in the middle which is the same darkness in the middle of every month, a darkness which appears disorienting but which is actually creative, restful, generative--the bud waiting to burst forth when her time is right.

I want to commend us all for the new path we are taking toward enlivening and Re-Imagining Tikvoh. Our Sunday Speaker's Series has begun again. Comedy and Chinese has returned. We have a new Adult Ed Committee with a new curriculum emerging. We will be having a new Friday evening service on January 15, followed by a Teen Homecoming Shabbat January 16. New approaches to prayer will be instituted in the Saturday morning minyan over time, beginning sometime in January. January 28 we have a wonderful new social justice opportunity in collaboration with Charter Oak Cultural Center. And we are inaugurating a new Tikvoh Chadoshoh / Trinity Hillel Social Justice Fellowship, so we should have an energetic Jewish College Student around (very) part-time in the Spring.

Many people have said that Congregation Bnai Jeshurun in New York is a model for them of what a Re-Imagined Tikvoh can be like. Please listen to Roly Matalon, Marcello Bronstein, and Felicia Sol, BJ's three rabbis:

Our experience at BJ has shown us that no one cares about a Judaism that reflects just a habit or some pale version of the past. What contemporary Jews long for is a Judaism that claims the authority to shape their consciousness and instills in them its values, as it has for centuries.  Only a Judaism that has something deep, meaningful and relevant to say about life-that challenges the mind and soul, that is open and tolerant-can have a chance.

I think none of us are sure that Tikvoh or West Hartford is ready for such a vision of congregational life, but let's find out!

We have so many new things right on the horizon: new ideas, new events, New Year, New Moon, new decade, new book of the Torah. It may feel a little dark or a little nerve-wracking, but it is a rich time for us. And near the end of January, at the full moon of the month of Sh'vat, we celebrate the New Year for Trees, Tu B'Shvat. After the darkness and uncertainty, after the quiet time, comes the light of a Full Moon and trees bursting into the blossom of new life.

Happy secular New Year! Happy Tu B'Shvat / New Year of trees!