A Holy Day in Gold Coast

September 18, 2001- Rosh Hashanah

Rosh Hashanah evening in Gold Coast Australia is standing outside the sanctuary at 6:00PM watching fruit bats fly off for their evening feed. Rosh Hashanah day is an Australian sunny cloudless blue-sky wonder with temperatures in the mid-70’s…again. It’s watching a barefoot man wearing shorts and walking his dogs. Rosh Hashanah in Gold Coast is the president of the congregation, a schoolteacher, not coming to services because he couldn’t ask for time off work. It’s his wife ducking out of lunch at her in-laws so that she too can go to work. It’s driving past a shop with a neon sign that says “Condom King” on the way home after services. It’s learning that I do want a “fizz” (pop/soda) when I’m thirsty. It’s hearing that the American rabbi in Brisbane has less of an accent than we do. It’s arriving early at temple and finding people there with gifts of baked goods for us. It’s David walking out on the bima (pulpit) and creating an atmosphere of worship that hopefully inspires prayer.

This morning was Rosh Hashanah, as we know it, yet different. Temple was crowded with an estimated 120 attending. This is a participatory group. They know liturgy, songs, and responses. They use the same prayer book we do in Akron. Women read from Torah, but here men wear kippot and tallisem (head coverings and prayer shawls).

David’s sermon was 12-13 minutes long. I don’t know if you realize that I always time them. It wove the Isaac story in with the idea of the malach (angel of God) being the first Progressive (Reform) Jew. The premise was that the malach stopped Abraham from blindly following what he thought was God’s wish. Abraham was told to think about what God really meant and to confront God’s decree. David suggested that’s what we Reform/Progressive Jews do as a movement. In light of new knowledge and information, we constantly re-evaluate our positions on tradition and daily life.

David gave the shofar blowing a go and did well. But after the first “blow,” there was nary a sound. In his disarming way, he turned to the congregation and said that this was his worst nightmare. Thinking that youth would triumph, a young man came up to give it a try. He didn’t even produce a squeak. Finally, an older gentleman who used to play a horn rescued us and gave out with several admirable toots. In David’s eagerness to produce a sound, he pressed too hard with his lips, his upper lip had swollen, and he couldn’t find a good fit for the subsequent attempts. I assumed all the blame for the shofar blowing fiasco since I wouldn’t let him take it home to the apartment last night to practice and it was my shoes that displaced his own shofar in the parcels that were shipped here from Akron.

Too Much Information

We sailed through the remainder of services without a glitch. You can’t count Marcus, the 13 month old, who crawled onto the bima then fell off onto his face as a glitch. It was a low bima, but he complained loudly.

Speaking of Marcus, his parents are trying to get pregnant. I love that phrase. It’s as if the man is really going to get pregnant. Ha! Why do I know this? Well, why wouldn’t I? It seems to be common knowledge in the Jewish community. At services this morning, I was introduced to a woman who is the mother of the gynecologist who is helping the would-be parents conceive. The topic of conversation at lunch was how long they’d tried. After they left the lunch and got to their house they called the potential grandparents of this unborn potential child to tell them that “they” were not ovulating. I know the content of the call because the grandparents shared it with everyone.

Much Too Much Information

I told you about bats, but what about birds and rats? It’s common to be visited by birds in the restaurants here since most restaurants are outdoors or open to the street. We had a robin dine with us for lunch yesterday and seeing it prompted David to ask me if I remembered one of the lovely restaurants in Hanoi. It was the first dinner we had in Vietnam. I remembered the evening fondly. It was in the courtyard of an old French home. The garden was lush, the architecture classic, and the food was scrumptious. David thought that a month later and many miles removed from Hanoi, I was prepared to hear about who else dined with us. It seems there was a large rat in the lush garden alongside our table at that lovely restaurant where we enjoyed our scrumptious dinner. Ignorance is bliss.

A New Ambassador

David just got a call from Uri Themal a Jewish government official and rabbi. The premier (governor) of Queensland wants an interfaith service for those lost in the terrorist attacks. The orthodox rabbi is unreachable now since it’s still Rosh Hashanah for him and the premier wants to know by tonight who will be the Jewish representative. It looks as if David is on deck to represent all the Jews of Queensland. Is that a promotion? Does that make him the head rabbi of Queensland? Heck, David has spoken before the President of the United States. This is no biggy. It would be nice publicity for the congregation here though.

Toby