[HANASHIR:12064] Worship as counter-demonstration

[LPKAROL <LPKAROL...>]

Chevre,
   Shabbat Shalom!  Tonight was a very special night at my congregation.  
Tomorrow  (August 24), the Kansas State Capitol is going to be the 
unfortunate site of a pro-white rally by the National Socialist Movement - 
i.e., Neo-Nazis, this group coming from Minnesota.  The NAACP and two groups 
(Concerned Citizens for Topeka and "Unity Boulevard") that deal with our 
local hatemongers (Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church) are going to 
demonstrate at the same time as the neo Nazis across the street diagonally 
about 1000 feet away from the neo Nazis.
     I felt that such a demonstration wasn't enough.  One community leader 
suggested the Temple and Jewish community should feel some ownership of doing 
something for the greater community.  So, I thought it would be good to open 
our service tonight to the community.  Our Temple Board agreed, and we went 
ahead with a couple of tv interviews and newspaper articles to announce our 
sharing of our service.
     When I came up to the bimah after practicing with our singers at 8pm, we 
had a crowd overflowing the 250 seats that were already set up.  We put up 
more - and probably had 300 by the time everyone arrived.   
      I used music to do a lot of teaching and voicing the values I wanted to 
highlight related to the demonstrations tomorrow.   The service included 
these songs especially for tonight:
Open the Gates (Joe Black)
Shir Chadash (Julie Silver)
Shelter of Peace (Debbie Friedman)
Circle Chant (Linda Hirschhorn)
Save a Life (Debbie Friedman)
Amar Rabi Akiva (Doug Cotler)
Alena's Song: Maybe More of Us (an unrecorded piece by Jeff Klepper that puts 
to music the poem "I'd Like to Be Alone" from the book "I Never Saw Another 
Butterfly."
Yaysh Kochavim (Jeff Klepper)
Let the Heavens Be Glad (Robert Weinberg)

 The service was very meaningful - and I really enjoyed doing the music, as 
well as adding some explanations for community members there.  Probably 2/3 
of the people there - or more - were from the general community.
 
  Just wanted to let you know how effective jewish music is here in the 
heartland in standing up against hatred.
   Shabbat Shalom, everyone!
L'shalom,
Rabbi Larry Karol
Temple Beth Sholom
Topeka