Welcome to this week's blog. There is a wonderful worship opportunity to share with you this weekend. Our Kindergarten children will be participating in the service and we will share the joy with their families. You know, when most of us were growing up, the bima was such a scary place. We would never dare to lead a congregation for a Shabbat service or even participate in a service - at least not until after we were bar or bat mitzvah. At least, that is the experience of most of us.

There is something to be said for that. After all, if there is not sense of the sacred on the bima then it becomes regular and not very special. But we live in different times and the Jewish experience can not be presented as untouchable or scary. Still, we have to keep the sacredness of the bima. Having children on the bima does not detract from its sacredness. Disrespect does. Our responsibility is to teach our children respect for the bima but we can't do that unless we can get them up there. Our family service, then, even at such a young age as the Kindergartners, are opportunities to teach.

And then, after the service, I would like you to do something: say mazal tov to one of the children. Your words can have a lasting effect. Tell them you appreciated how they behaved on the bima and that their service was beautiful.

Having children on the bima is but one of the beautiful traditions we have at Beth Miriam. And what better way to teach the beauty of our tradition than to teach it to our children and invite them to be a part of it.

I look forward to seeing you on Friday at 7:30.

Come hear the rest of the sermon at Temple Beth Miriam, 180 Lincoln Ave, in Elberon, NJ this Erev Shabbat, April 17th. You are most welcome to worship with us and enjoy the peace of Shabbat in an embracing and warm community.

Questions about TBM? Call the rabbi at 732-222-3754.

And on another subject...

The end is nigh! -- the end of Passover, that is. Once again, the Festival has come and gone and leaves matzah crumbs and memories of wonderful S'darim in its wake. I have the especially great memories this year: Abraham came home from college for Seder and it was a joy to have all my children at the table once again; my brother in law and sister in law were here with their four children and some other friends who we welcomed into our home; the Men of TBM seder. Of course, I will also remember the very ancient tradition that we just invented -- a post Seder bonfire in our backyard! It was so cool roasting kosher for Passover marshmallows over the firepit and laughs and giggles were abundant.

Each year we enter Passover anticipating what will be and each year I look back and, almost always, say 'Wow.' This was another 'wow' year.

Purim is past. Pesach is past. What's ahead? The Tenth Anniversary Celebration of our being at TBM at the end of June (e-mail cinsing@aol.com if you want to be a part of the Ad Journal), Camp (yeah Shiur!), and the beginnings of the High Holiday (!) planning. Of course, we have to sneak getting Naomi to college this summer and SaraAnn's bat mitzvah...

Rabbi Stanway's introduction to the Friday sermon, "Fast Food Nation" on April 10, 2009. Join us for services on Friday at 8 pm to hear the whole thing.

Beth Miriam invites you to join us for services. You certainly do not have to be a member of the temple. Come, worship, and celebrate.

You can see the entire sermon in written form from this link (after it is uploaded).

And now for something completely different...

This morning at 6:20 AM there were 19 of us at the boardwalk by the ocean to watch the sun come up and recite the liturgy said every 28 years for the Blessing of the Sun.

As a lay science person, I know that the sun being in exactly the same position as it was on the moment of creation is hardly fact. After all, the galaxy spins so the sun can't be where it was, not to mention the fact that the galaxy is itself traveling through space. So what was the purpose of this ceremony that says that, on sunrise, the Sun is precisely where it was at the moment of its first creation on the fourth day, according to tradition? It is simple: though I will not take the tradition literally, I will take it seriously. It is a tradition that stresses the magnificence of creation and of the reality that we are part of the cosmic scene - and it also teaches us something very humbling.

To know that we are parts of this world is to acknowledge our place in it. And, to acknowledge our place is to recognize that we have a responsiblity to it. That is affirming. But this ceremony also teaches us that, even if we weren't here, the earth would still revolve around the sun, the sun around the galaxy and the galaxy would still travel through the ever-expanding universe. That is very humbling.

We are certainly not the center of the galaxy, let alone the universe but knowing that we are here and knowing that we are a part of universe opens our eyes to the gift of life and our hearts to the possiblities of what we can do in this world. If I have to get up early every 28 years to affirm that, how magnificent the opportunity! Indeed, it is something we all ought to be doing every day.

Want to hear the rest of the sermon? Come join us this Friday night for Shabbat at 8 PM. 180 Lincoln Avenue in Elberon.

The entire sermon will be available for download several days after Shabbat at a link at this site. Just click on the graphic to the left and you will be taken to the TBM Sermon Page.