It has been six weeks since the Marathon Bombings. The alleged perpetrators have been found; their suspected helpers identified. People from across the globe have shown great humanity by turning their outrage and anger into acts of generosity and support for the injured and the families of those who perished. At the memorial service following the bombings, Governor Patrick spoke of the many acts of kindness shown in those frenzied minutes after the attacks: doctors, nurses, first-responders—even citizens not trained in first aid—rushed to help the injured. How many lives were saved by their selfless acts of bravery and compassion? The governor urged people to embrace these moments of nobility and humanity, particularly when spirits flag and anger and rage threaten to overtake us all.
Sadly, even in the midst of such lofty acts of selfless heroism, there are too many among us who have used the bombings as an excuse to express hatred toward law-abiding immigrants who, like our own great-grandparents, came to these shores seeking a better life. How many American Moslems walk the streets in fear of being attacked, branded as terrorists for the clothes they wear or the color of their skin? “Boston Strong” is an expression of unity, not a cry for vengeance.
Anne Frank wrote in The Diary of a Young Girl,a book we all read in middle school, “I don’t think of all the misery, but of the beauty that still remains.” Nothing reflects the beauty of the human spirit more than music. When people are singing, they can’t argue. Music expresses emotion, but not hate or enmity.
In our own way, we will celebrate the best of the human spirit when Cantor Idan Irelander brings his Sephardic Service to the Temple this Friday night (May 31st). If you come just to hear the beautiful and soulful music of the Sephardic tradition, you will not be disappointed. But this evening is so much more than that. Cantor Irelander has brought together musicians from all over the globe, including Israel, Palestine, Japan and Turkey. In other settings, some of these people may not even speak to each other! I cannot conceive of a more politically and ethnically diverse group, and yet on our bimatheir harmony will prove that music is truly a universal language shared by all human beings.
Join us for an evening of excellent music (our own in-house band, the Abbas will be participating as well!) played by a group of talented and passionate professional musicians. Their presence is proof that in the end, goodness and beauty are expressions of the human spirit that are truly eternal. ……………………………………………..Rabbi Robert S. Goldstein
Rabbi Dr. Robert Goldstein was born in Springfield, Massachusetts. He graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1975 and was ordained a Rabbi in 1981 at the Hebrew Union College/Jewish Institute of Religion in New York City. In 1988, Rabbi Goldstein earned a Doctor of Ministry at Andover Newton Theological School in Newton Centre, Massachusetts. His doctoral thesis was entitled, “Life Cycle.Life Crisis: Religious Orgins and Psychological Implications of Three Rites of Passage.” 
