 A native New Yorker, Rabbi Linda Henry Goodman holds a Bachelor’s degree from The Mannes College of Music and an M.A. from Queens College. During the 1970's she was a member of the faculties of Mannes College and The State University of New York College at Purchase. In addition, she appeared often as piano recitalist, accompanist, and chamber player.
In 1980 she entered the Rabbinic School of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, first at the campus in Jerusalem, and later in New York. There she earned an M.A. in Hebrew Literature. As a student, Rabbi Goodman served as Student Chaplain at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, as well as Lenox Hill Hospital and the Hospital for Special Surgery. She also received awards in Homiletics, Bible, Hebrew, and Humanities. In 1999 she earned a Doctor of Ministry degree from Hebrew Union College.
Upon her ordination in 1985, Rabbi Goodman became the first woman to join the Rabbinic staff of Congregation Emanu-El of the City of New York. Subsequently she went on to serve as Rabbi of the Nassau Community Temple in West Hempstead, and Hillel Director and Jewish Chaplain at Adelphi University. She also spent several years as Adjunct Instructor in the Theology Department at Molloy College, and as Adjunct Professor of Jewish Studies at the New York Theological Seminary. In 1992 Rabbi Goodman became the first woman to occupy our pulpit here at Union Temple as Rabbi of the Congregation.
Rabbi Goodman has long been a leader and spokesperson in the community, particularly in the areas of Reproductive Rights and fighting hunger. She helped to found a Jewish coalition in West Hempstead, spanning all segments of the Jewish community, in service to the INN (Interfaith Nutrition Network) in Hempstead. She serves on the Executive Board of the New York State Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, and also has served on the Clergy Advisory Council for RCRC on the national level in Washington. She also is a member of Concerned Clergy for Choice in affiliation with Family Planning Advocates in Albany. She is a recipient of the Roe v. Wade Award from the New York and New Jersey affiliates of RCRC. She currently holds the office of Vice President of the New York Board of Rabbis, the first woman in the organization’s history to do so. She was awarded the prestigious and Rabbi Israel and Libby Mowshowitz Award for Public Service, and the Zagelbaum Family Award for Chaplaincy, both from the New York Board of Rabbis. The Zagelbaum Award was primarily in recognition of her emergency pastoral service to the community in the wake of 9/11. She also has served on the Board of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, and the CCAR Committee on Jewish Sexual Values. Currently she serves on the CCAR Resolutions Committee. She is a member of the Rabbinic Advisory Board of the Reform Jewish Voice of New York State, and is also a member of the Rabbinic Council of ARZA.
Rabbi Goodman’s husband, Rabbi Stephen Wise Goodman, is Rabbi of the Garden City Jewish Center, and an attorney in the Law Department of the New York City Housing Authority. The Goodmans’ son Philip is a student at Binghamton University.
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Maria Dubinsky 
We have been blessed at Union Temple with the talents and exuberance of student cantors on the highest level, who have contributed greatly to the life of our congregation. We are fortunate again this year to welcome another outstanding student cantor, Maria Dubinsky. Born and raised in Moscow, Maria made aliyah to Israel in her teens, and graduated from the Rubin Academy of Music in Jerusalem. She served in the Israel Defense Force for two years, and worked as a Hebrew-Russian translator in the “Vesty” newspaper, and the “Ot, Ltd,” and “SK Orbit Ltd” companies. She performed throughout Israel as a soloist in the Philharmonic Singers and in various solo and chamber music groups. In addition, she sang in the choir of the New Israeli Opera. She was awarded first prize in the Rubin Academy of Music’s chamber music competition, and was a recipient of the America-Israel Cultural Foundation Scholarship for musical excellence. In addition, she directed the children’s vocal ensemble in the Neve-Eliezer School in Tel Aviv, and taught Hebrew in the Beit Alicia home for older adults. On a private basis, both in Israel and in New York, she has taught Hebrew, Russian, music theory, and Bar/Bat Mitzvah lessons. Maria is entering her fourth year at the Hebrew Union College School of Sacred Music. For the past two years, she has served as a biweekly Student Cantorial Intern at the Garden City Jewish Center. Their rabbi, Rabbi Stephen W. Goodman, sings her praises to the hilt and commends her to us with great excitement. The daughter of an Orthodox hazzan, Maria is committed to the Reform Movement, and hopes to return to Israel to contribute her talents to the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism. We welcome Maria into our midst, along with her husband Arkady and their little daughter Maya. We hope that her time with us will be mutually happy and fulfilling. We all will have a chance to welcome her formally at our pre-Selichot reception on Saturday evening, September 20th, beginning at 8:00 PM.
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Pikuach Nefesh - The Saving of a Life Yom Kippur Morning 5770 Union Temple by Rabbi Linda Henry Goodman
Like most other congregations, we here at Union Temple have had our share of medical emergencies during the High Holy Days. A number of years ago during Kol Nidre, one of our congregants unfortunately suffered a stroke. We called 911, and I’m sorry to say the response time was very poor. The following year on Yom Kippur Morning one of our congregants fainted. This time we called Hatzolo - you know, the emergency medical unit of the Habadniks - and they came like THAT. On Yom Kippur - the holiest day of the Jewish year - they drove here in their ambulance and then rushed down the aisle. The music was playing, and God knows who or what they thought I was! But none of that mattered. They were here to act upon a principle of Jewish law that overrides all others: Pikuach nefesh docheh Shabbat - the saving of a life supersedes (all restrictions on) Shabbat, (Festivals, and Holy Days). An Orthodox doctor needs to answer the phone, the doctor answers the phone. The doctor needs to drive to a patient, the doctor drives to the patient. The doctor needs to shock a patient, the doctor shocks the patient. Pikuach Nefesh - the saving of a life - the most important Jewish principle of all.
Yom Kippur demands that we own up to our failures as a community and focus ourselves on how to do better. This afternoon we will read the Holiness Code in the Book of Leviticus: Lo ta’amod ‘al dam rei’echa - Do not stand by while your neighbor bleeds. Pikuach Nefesh grows out of this commandment. The saving of life is incumbent upon Jews.
Already several times during these High Holy Days we have stated Judaism’s primary teaching: each individual human life is of infinite value. Thus the preservation of life supercedes virtually all other considerations. We have internalized the belief that we are God’s co-workers here on Earth; God’s partners in creating a better world. As God’s partners we use the wisdom we acquire to cure illnesses. This is a central theme in Jewish thought and history.
We all know the repertoire of Jewish doctor jokes. But I would suggest that the abundance of Jewish doctors is no mere coincidence. Healing is one of the highest values of our faith. Doctors have an obligation to heal. Moses Maimonides, the 12 th Century Spanish Rabbinic authority, in his Commentary on a statement from the Mishnah (Nedarim 4:4), teaches: "It is obligatory from the Torah for the physician to heal the sick and this is included in the explanation of the phrase: 'and you shall restore it to him' meaning to heal the body." Remember that Maimonides was also a physician himself.
In addition, we learn from our tradition that when we are in need of medical attention ourselves, we have an obligation to obtain it. This derives from the principle that our bodies and souls belong to God, and thus we have to ensure that they are cared for. In the Book of Deuteronomy (4:15) we read: "You shall indeed guard your souls" - traditionally interpreted as commanding us to protect our health. And the Talmud (BK 46b) teaches: "Whoever is in pain, lead him to the physician." From this the Rabbis concluded that people should live near where doctors are, in order to have access to health care.
Providing health care has not only been understood by Jewish tradition as the obligation of the patient and the doctor, but of society as well. Thus health care is listed first by Maimonides in the Mishnah Torah on his list of the ten most important communal services that had to be offered by any city to its residents (MT, Sefer Hamadda IV:23).
Doctors are required to reduce their rates for poor patients and, when that was not sufficient, communal subsidies were established. Communal funds for the care of the sick take precedence over other obligations, including the construction of a synagogue. This we learn from the Shulhan Arukh. (Yoreh Deah 249:16; Responsa Ramat Rahel of Rabbi Eliezer Waldernberg sections 24-25). By the Middle Ages, communal responsibility encompassed every aspect of life in virtually every place where Jews lived, and that included health care.
In Lithuania, local trade barriers were relaxed for poor refugees. As early as 11 th century, a hekdesh (hospital) was established by the Jewish community of Cologne, primarily for poor and sick travelers. Many later medieval Jewish communities in Poland and Germany also adopted this pattern. Spanish Jewish communities hired doctors to serve the entire community to ensure that health care was available to all. A certain Rabbi Waldenberg, 20th Cent. Israel, was a leader of the Rabbinical Court in Israel and Rabbi of Shaare Tzedek Hospital in Jerusalem; his legal writings are dubbed “Tzitz Eliezer.” Citing the opinion of one Rabbi Rafael Mordechai Malchi, Waldenberg states: It has been enacted that in every place in which Jews live, the community sets aside a fund for care of the sick. When poor people are ill and cannot afford medical expense, the community sends them a doctor to visit them, and the medicine is paid for by the communal fund (kupah).
The community gives them food appropriate for the ill, day by day, according to the directions of the doctor. Interesting - that when the late Senator Ted Kennedy was examining other national models for health care back in the ‘80's, the first place he traveled was Israel.
We are taught, in the very beginning of Genesis, that all humanity was created b’tzelem Elohim – in the divine image. God did not divide creation between those who are sick and those who are well; between those who can afford health care and those who cannot; between those who are entitled to health care and those who are not. Rather, God created us all, endowed us all with equal rights, and charged us with the responsibility to be partners in the act of healing.
From these examples, and I assure you, there are many more, we conclude that from a Jewish perspective, when members of the society at large are ill, our responsibility—not only of the medical profession but all of us—expands to ensure that medical resources are available at an affordable cost to those who need them. This principle is also embodied in the concept of mip’nei tikkun ha’olam - for the good of the community - that which we are obliged to do in order to repair the world in which we live. For modern American Jews - us - the provision of more affordable and accessible health care in America is of highest priority, because we operate out of the prophetic mandate to "do justly" and provide for those in need.
Two years ago, at the Biennial Convention of the Union for Reform Judaism in San Diego, the president of the URJ Rabbi Eric Yoffie passionately addressed this issue. . . “It is not my intention,” Rabbi Yoffie said, “to discuss with you the mechanics of providing health insurance. Some, including our Movement, prefer a single-payer system in which the government provides health insurance, and some want insurance delivered by private entities under government regulation.
“But what we do need to discuss is the fundamental question of values that is as yet unresolved by our society: What do we owe each other as Americans?
“The Jewish answer is: Communities are obligated to provide healing to all of their citizens.
The Shulchan Aruch makes the point very simply: "If the physician withholds his services, it is considered as shedding blood" (Sh”Ar., Yoreh Dei-ah 336:1).
“The Jewish answer is: Something is profoundly wrong when somebody else's medical crisis is no longer our problem, and when we are so unwilling to come to each other's aid.
“The Jewish answer is: Providing health insurance for all is about helping a family member, a neighbor, or a fellow citizen because, next time, any one of us could be facing catastrophe. It is not just about them, it is about us.
“We all know the practical problems that have, thus far, prevented us from providing medical insurance to all Americans. What ever plan is adopted, drug and insurance companies may face reduced profits; health-care providers may have to accept reductions in income; and middle-class families may have to pay more for the coverage they receive.
“In a country such as ours, it is natural that honest, well-intentioned people are going to differ about how to fix health care. But that is what we pay politicians for-to lead ourcountry in finding some reasonable compromise.
“And now is the time. Every uninsured family is a catastrophe waiting to happen. The time has long since passed when our leaders should have done what every other advanced country has somehow managed to do: provide all its citizens with essential health care. “ – Rabbi Eric Yoffie. . . .
You know, my friends, nobody ever thinks they’re going to get sick. Okay, maybe hypochondriacs think they’ll get sick. But most of us don’t assume we’ll get sick, because we can’t walk around that way - it’s not good for our psyche. We have to block it out on a certain level. On the other hand, if we have even a modicum of realism within us, we know that people do get sick. Young people, older people, healthy, strong people - they get sick. And though most of us are taken totally by surprise, we can’t allow ourselves to be swept away in that surprise. We owe it to ourselves to be prepared, so that we and our families will not be wiped out by the costs because we had the back luck to get sick. Those who are trying to thwart health care for others? They seem to think their health and security are unshakable, and that protecting their fellow Americans will take something away from them. It’s the most astounding and frightening thing I have ever seen.
As members of the religious community it is incumbent upon us to remind our elected officials that health care is not just about dollars and cents. Rather, it is a profound moral issue of life and death. It is fundamentally about whether we are a community that values the life of each person—poor, rich, or middle class. How can it be, in this wonderful nation of ours, born of the Enlightenment, that virtually every debate over health care reform over the past 25 years has been driven into the ground by those who understand how to manipulate our fears?! And now it even has deteriorated into accusations about “death panels,” and “pulling the plug on Granny.” During a conference call that President Obama held with the religious community earlier this month, the President characterized those accusations collectively as “an extraordinary lie.” Those with health coverage are pitted against those without. The debate is presented as a choice between the status quo and a dysfunctional government system that denies needed treatment. Health care industries are spending tens of millions of dollars to push people’s buttons and scare them into rejecting reform. And, I might add, the rights, freedoms, and health care of women, as usual, have been thrown into this unholy mix as well, as the battle cry of abortion is raised in an attempt to thwart coverage for mammograms, sonograms, and the whole range of diagnostic and treatment approaches for women.
How can we care so little for each other? I thought this was humanitarian nation - a nation that embodied compassion and a concern for justice.
This afternoon, here in the sanctuary, two of our trustees, Dr. Marvin Lieberman and Jeff Stein, will bring their experience and expertise to our Social Action Forum, beginning at 1:30. I hope you will come and feel free to contribute to the discussion. They will discuss the specifics and the fine points of public policy.
For me, as I read and try to understand what the Jewish tradition I love is telling us at this critical moment in our history, what I can tell you is that our tradition makes it clear. No matter how it is accomplished, health care has to be affordable for everyone, and good health care has to be guaranteed to all Americans. Health care reform must cover everyone. Income-based options, a stronger Medicaid system, protections for children, all of it. Rabbi Elliot Dorff, Chair of the Committee on Law and Standards of the Conservative Movement, states it clearly: “Support for universal health care is an imperative in Jewish law. ...” and it “goes very far back in our heritage.”
Pikuach Nefesh docheh Shabbat? The saving of a life supersedes all else? Over 47 million of our fellow Americans live from day to day without health care coverage. As an American, I am ashamed. As a Jew, I am outraged, as I stand upon a tradition that puts caring for the sick above every other priority. As Americans, as Jews, we need to light a fire under those who represent us in Congress to GET THIS DONE, and GET IT DONE FAIRLY. It’s time. It’s way past time.
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