[HANASHIR:9903] Re: Patriotic songs

[BellaSings <BellaSings...>]

Just had to share this bizarre moment:
A leader's nightmare -- although it was some of the grimmest comic relief I 
have ever experienced.
On 9-11-01 I decided to have a memorial gathering at our Shul. I threw 
together a supplement sheet with some Songs, Readings, Tehillim, El Maleh, 
etc. Lots of cut and paste to save time. Wanting to include the lyrics to 
America the Beautiful, I pulled out one of the Shul's old "Thanksgiving" 
supplements. Just as I was about to run a hundred copies, I happened to 
glance down and caught the line
"For purple mountains majesty above the fruited plane."
I guess it was a release of tension -- but I laughed until I cried. 
On any other day it would have been just a typo -- on this day it was the 
worst pun in history.
And yet ... I pray that may we never forget how to laugh.
Tonight members of the local Mosque, and Catholic & Methodist Churches have 
accepted my invitation to join us for Kabbalat Shabbat - I pray we encounter 
the divine spark in each other and connect with the laughter and joy that God 
planted in all our souls.
Shabbat Shalom, 
Bella 
Cantor Bella Bogart Gelven
Congregation B'nai Shalom
Vallejo, CA