Conference taveng::bagels

1426.0. ""Sneak into Shul" and "Make a Lulav Shake"" by NAC::OFSEVIT (card-carrying member) Mon Sep 19 1994 20:09

    	The attached article features our very own Dave Srebnick, wearing
    his musical-parody-for-a-purpose hat (or is that kipah?):

    -----

                     Shul steps lightly with holiday garb
                   Congregation canvassed to exchew leather

                             By James L. Franklin
                                 GLOBE STAFF


    Members of a synagogue in Worcester are preparing to observe Yom
    Kippur, the most solemn holiday of the Jewish year, with a
    light-hearted, rock'n'roll campaign aimed at getting members to "sneak
    into shul" for services beginning at sundown tonight.

    	Not wearing leather on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is a
    mitzvah, both a commandment and a good deed.  But in an age when
    athletic shoes are made of leather and casual shoes are everyday
    fashion, it takes special effor for traditional Jews to keep alive the
    custom of wearing canvas shoes on their day of fasting and
    introspection.

    	That's why Rabbi Jay Rosenbaum and members of Congregation Beth
    Israel borrowed the tune from "Walk Like a Man," by the Four Seasons,
    making a musical argument that:

    		Nothin' is hipper
    		Than coming on Yom Kippur
    		With non-leather
    		Shoes on your feet...
    		Walk like a Jew
    		When you're in shul
    		Walk like a Jew on Yom Kippur
    		Don't wear a leather show [sic, I think they meant shoe]
    		When you come to shul this year.

    	There are T-shirts and keychains and stickers to make the sneaker
    campaign a conversation piece and recruit as many members as possible
    to commit to the sneaker idea.  Two local stores cooperated by stocking
    canvas shoes for the season.

    	"In the past maybe the rabbi, the cantor and a half dozen others
    would wear sneakers.  Most other people just thought it looked
    strange," said Evelyn Herwitz Harris of Worcester, a member of the
    500-family congregation.

    	This year 245 members have signed up to sneak into "shul," the
    Yiddish word for synagogue, "which is just remarkable to me," Harris
    said.

    	"The idea is to lower the level of religious embarrassment, a
    discomfort with the ritual among people who have not grown up in a
    world in which this was done," said Rabbi Robert M. Abramson, education
    director for the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism in New York.

    	Wearing canvas shoes calls attention to the Jewish ideal of
    compassion, said Rabbi Rosenbaum.  "Not wearing leather is associated
    with not taking a life.  The Torah doesn't expect us to be vegetarians,
    although the Book of Genesis indicates that is the ideal...But the
    Torah does expect us to show sensitivity to animal life, which is why
    we keep kosher, requiring that animals be slaughtered in a painless
    fashion, that we not drink blood or mix milk and meat.

    	"And in our day, when the sneaker is a symbol of excess, when we
    pay $100 for sneakers and have seen children killed over sneakers, this
    'Sneak into Shul' campaign is meant to be a sign of simplicity and
    humility, to remind us there are more important things than the
    clothing you wear," he said.

    	The United Synagogue has adopted another campaign that began at Beth
    Israel, "Make a Lulav Shake."  It uses T-shirts, buttons and music to
    promote use of "lulav" and "etrog" (traditional plant materials), palm,
    willow, and myrtle branches and a citron for daily prayer over Succoth,
    the seven-day Feast of Booths.

    	"There's been a great sense of community involvement," said Carol
    P. Halsband of Worcester, citing the congregational support for the
    Succoth and Yom Kippur promotions.

    	David L. Srebnick of Acton, a member who wrote the "Sneak into
    Shul" lyrics with Rabbi Rosenbaum, says the fun and games "have
    enhanced our religious observance.

    	"On the surface the act of wearing sneakers seems trivial, but then
    you remember that once only the very wealthy could wear leather, and
    that on Yom Kippur we are to remember that we are all equal, that this
    is a day when we are to afflict our souls and be somewhat
    uncomfortable," Srebnick said.  "Wearing sneakers is one way to do
    that, not physically but psychologically, when that feeling of
    discomfort is a very important part of Yom Kippur."


    [copied without asking permission from The Boston Globe, 9/14/94]