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Tonight begins the Holy Day of Shavuot. In Christianity this is called the Pentecost. In Jewish tradition, this is the day we receive the Torah. I use the word receive because we never stop receiving the Words/Teachings of God. We stay up all night to study and repair our inner selves so that we can be open to hearing the Teachings of Wisdom and Truth from The Holy Infinite One.

How this translates for me is I have to stay open to teachings and learnings from God and those around me so that I am constantly and consistently growing and maturing into the Being I was created to be. I am never finished, always a work in progress.

Faith Works! This has been proven scientifically as well as anecdotally. My faith is not the only faith, but it is the one that works for me in my life that helps me grow one grain of sand better each day. I invite you to experience faith with me and my community, other Clergy and their community and/or with yourself and your community. This year let us all receive Torah-God’s Teachings-openly and allow ourselves to heal the splits within us and between us. Happy Learning, Happy Openness Day!

Rabbi Mark

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I have been thinking a lot about jealousy this week. In the Book of Numbers there is a section that deals with a jealous husband who thinks his wife is cheating on him. The Bible goes on to give a ritual that will prove the wife’s faithfulness. It brought up a lot of thought for me about jealousy in other areas as well.

I used to be jealous of everyone! I was always a victim and everyone else was ‘luckier’ than me. My questions always centered around, why not me and where’s mine. In these past 22 years, I have found a peace within myself from the tyranny of jealousy. I found that jealousy doesn’t allow me to be happy for anyone else nor for myself. My jealousy used to prevent me from even trying to be better and learn more.

What I have found out is that being happy for someone else’s success enhances me rather than detracts from me. I have found that being happy for others forces me to be grateful for what I have rather than think about what I am missing. Being happy for another allows me to be free to live my life rather than lounge in self-pity and anger.

How has not being jealous helped you?

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My thoughts this week have been on the Torah Portion, Kedoshim, Holiness. I have realized this week that Holiness is lacking because most people are not truly grounded in themselves. We chase after others thinking they have something we need/lack. We chase after others thinking that they “have it all together”. We chase after others and make ourselves into something we are not and then never believe they truly accept us. This happens in dating, marriage, friendship, etc.

There are others who don’t chase after others or so they think. Yet, as a friend of mine says, we are all trying to sign people. The people who don’t chase after others usually think that they are not worthy and/or the others are not worthy. They also don’t accept their true selves and therefore never feel truly accepted.

I have realized this week that, at times, I am guilty of this same error. I have a fear that if others don’t like me and/or I don’t do what others want, Beit T’Shuvah, my organization, will suffer. At times, this has caused me great angst. I also realized the solution, this week.

I need to be strong in who I am. I need to make sure the people I let in, “go after” are worthy of being with me and, of course, vice versa. I BELONG TO A CLUB! I am using the word club to mean that I have a place and this place is good, needs others to populate it so it can grow and I am a leader/follower of this club. I don’t need to join the club of another, I need to have union, merge and have relationships with others who are secure in themselves.

My new commitment is to stay firm in myself, continue to grow, not try to be everything to everyone and not compromise myself and my principles to belong. Rather, I invite people who want to be loyal to principles to join, merge, have a relationship and union with my club.

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Tonight marks the beginning of the “Time of Freedom” in the Jewish World. I believe that it marks the same in the Christian world as well with Easter this Sunday. What does this mean?

In studying with my Rabbi and Friend, Rabbi Edward Feinstein, I was struck at how the Bible teaches us about slavery and freedom. In Hebrew the words for work are “Avodah” and “Malacha”. Avodah also means service. In Genesis, at the end of the Garden of Eden story, Adam is told that he will get food “by the sweat of his brow.” This is different than the original idea which was he would be able to pick his food from the trees in the Garden. The narrative shows us how this becomes drudgery and then slavery in Egypt. This type of work, according to Rabbi Feinstein is “Avodah Parach”‘ serving/working in drudgery/slavery.

Passover liberates us from this drudgery/slavery and gives us the opportunity to perform “Avodah Malacha”, serving/working in Creativity which was the original Intention. This is why this is called the season of freedom. As we leave Egypt again is year, we have the opportunity to redirect our efforts to serve the creativity of others as well as our own creativity. This is the highest and holiest way to serve The Creator.

Harriet and I and all of the staff and residents of Beit TShuvah wish you a year of Avodah Malacha, a season of freedom to pursue your passion and your purpose! Hag Sameyach, Happy Liberation from Slavery/drudgery. Rabbi Mark Borovitz

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I believe that this comes from a lack of Spiritual Maturity. Spiritual Maturity means that I have to look inward, take responsibility and embrace my imperfections rather than feel defective if I make a mistake or miscalculation. Spiritual Maturity is knowing that the “one right way” ISN’T!! To be Spiritually Mature requires me to know that any solution that comes just from me and “my people” can’t be right and whole because it is coming from too narrow a view. Rather than ” need to be right” I ask you to engage in seeking the whole picture so we can all find solutions to the ills of the world AND care for the poor, the old, the widow, the stranger, the orphan, the powerless and voiceless among us.

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Family relationships are sticky and complicated. We find this true in Genesis and with Moses and Aaron as well. Even the sons and cousins have difficulty with each other. Yet, we stay together, WHY?

I think one reason is that family is familiar. We can count on family to be who they are; we are usually not surprised by them. There is comfort in this. Family is also the safest place to work out our attachment issues. We are able to go back to family and re-attach or learn why we can’t so that we are not left “holding the blame/shame of being not good enough.” In family we can learn/relearn how to “get it right” in an environment that we know. We know whether asking for attachment from mother is like going to the hardware store to get milk and seeing our own detachment allows unto seek attachment somewhere else, so we can heal ourselves.

Family is a place of love, the problem being that not all members have the same definition of love. Family is where you are never completely right and may be always wrong, yet… it is comfortable to go back to a place that you know. Family is the place where you learn powerlessness and being responsible for yourself as well as others.

Family is sticky and sometimes very hard AND it is one of the richest places to mine the ore of our soul and spiritual/emotional health. What kind of experiences do you personally have with family?

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It made me think about the difference between running to save a soul and running to destroy a soul. The Alcoholic who died ran to destroy his soul and, in the process, harmed the souls of his children and friends. The people who ran to save a soul strengthen their souls and the souls of their families. I watched two children cheer their father on, another two children hug and praise their mother and I cried when I saw my daughter, Heather, come up to mile 19 on her way to finishing the Marathon.

What are you doing today? Are you running/living to save your soul and the souls of others or are you running/living to destroy your soul and the souls of others? YOU MATTER!!! You have the choice, which way are you choosing to live today?

To see pictures of the Marathon go to www. flickr.com/photos/beittshuvah

To see video of the marathon go to www.youtube.com/beittshuvah

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Vacationing with family is a trip. Trying to get everyone on the same page at the same time is challenging and impossible! As it should be. I am sitting here at 5AM and thinking about my desire to have everyone on my time schedule AND remembering that You Matter means I have to give everyone their own space. What is different is that if their time/desire doesn’t match mine, it is okay. We don’t have to do everything together, the kids, grandkids, Harriet can “do their own thing” and that’s cool. I can do my own deal and that is cool too. We are having an almost stress-free time using this concept as our “Golden Rule”.

Today are massages for the girls, beach for the kids and I am going for a shvitz! Tomorrow, whoever wants can come with Harriet and me to the Art Walk in Puerto Vallarta and then on Thursday is Catarina’s Birthday. So, while things are planned, only Thursday night at dinner is mandatory for everyone. I will let you know how it all went on Friday.

What is your experience/ideas for family vacation fun that is together and individual?

Recovery is a gift, as all of us in Sobriety know. I think that the issue for me is how to treat a gift. As kids, when we get a gift, we are all excited for a day, week, month. Then we take it for granted and want the next new thing.

This is how many people treat the gift of Sobriety. Recovery is a continuum, it is not a static event. Just like Judaism and all Relevant Spiritual Disciplines, Recovery has to be a dynamic way of life, otherwise it loses it’s meaning and power.

Each day is a gift that is different from the day before and from the next day. As Rabbi Heschel says, no two moments are alike, yet Relapsers treat every moment the same, otherwise they would not relapse, in my opinion.

I am asking all people in Recovery and I define Recovery very broadly, as a returning from any action, substance, way of thinking that is inconsistent with the sublime wonder of life, TO TREAT THEIR LIVES AS A PRECIOUS GIFT.

I am asking all of us to treat the lives of others as a precious gift as well. I know how hard this is and how many times I fall short of this, yet Recovery is about continuing to rise above yesterdays’s errors and do one grain of sand more each day.

God Bless, Rabbi Mark

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It amazes me that so much attention is given to Charlie Sheen and so little to people who do good! What has happened to our society? We worship people who destroy the serenity and well-being of others through our media outlets. We destroy people who are doing good by ignoring them and/or finding their flaws.

Everyone has flaws!! No one is perfect! What is it that is making us spend so much time on the spirit-sucking, negative people who want to destroy themselves and/or others? Where are all the decent people? If the Middle East can rise up and say NO to despots, then we on America can say NO to the news outlets, the Charlie Sheen types and all others who are making a fortune by impuning the integrity of everyone else!!

I am calling on us to start a New Movement – let’s call it the Decency Wins Movement or the You Matter Movement or anything you want to call it. Let’s start by raising our voices on the Internet and in our Churches, Temples, Mosques, Ashrams, etc to talk with civility and love whether we agree or not. Let’s talk with each other instead of at each other. Who will join me? I call on people of faith and the people who feel disenfranchised to join and let’s change America back to a land “of the people, by the people and for the people” remembering that all of us are created equal by our Creator.

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