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February 6, 2004
The power of the Psalms
Rabbi Plotkin to discuss his new book at Beth Israel.
KYLE BERGER REPORTER
Rabbi Paul Plotkin believes that the Psalms have the ability to
turn someone's life around for the better. And he'll be speaking
at Beth Israel Synagogue, Feb. 10, to explain how.
Plotkin, who served as the assistant rabbi at Beth Israel for two
years in the late 1970s, recently published a book titled The
Lord is my Shepherd: Why Do I Still Want? Ancient Wisdom for the
Modern Soul. The rabbi, who currently leads the pulpit at Temple
Beth Am in Margate, Fla., told the Bulletin that his book "attempts
to capture the human voice of the psalmist behind the Psalms.
"My thesis is that there is a real person behind every Psalm
who has gone through something significant in their lives,"
he said. "They've managed to get through it and left behind
a Psalm as kind of an encapsulated summary of both the angst of
the crisis and the resolution."
Plotkin continued, suggesting that Psalms have always spoken to
people of religion because it was a way of communicating to God.
On a personal level, Plotkin said that while dealing with the divorce
from his wife of 23 years, he turned his own life around with the
help of a Psalm.
"A particular line of a particular Psalm at a certain point
really came to the rescue and turned my life around," he said.
"It was the power to be able to connect, to be able to be spiritually
strengthened and somewhat healed from the Psalm that I really wanted
to share with people."
The presentation at Beth Israel, titled The Power of Prayer, will
include an analysis of a couple of Psalms and the system of discovering
what each Psalm has to offer.
"I'm going to show the system of what I present in the book,"
he said about his talk at Beth Israel. "It's about following
the human being who goes down to the valley and ends up on top of
the mountain."
Plotkin was Beth Israel's first assistant rabbi and he ran the shul's
pulpit while Rabbi Solomon was on sabbatical. He said that one of
his proudest accomplishments in Vancouver was the establishment
of a young couples group that had more than 100 participants by
the end of his first year.
"All of the young couples were under 35 and that was 26 years
ago," he said. "A lot of them are still around and involved
in the Jewish community today.
"It was a really special experience," he said of his days
in Vancouver. "It was a great time in the city and things were
exploding."
Plotkin visits Vancouver and Whistler several times each winter
and said he plans on spending at least three months a year in the
area when he retires.
Plotkin will be selling and autographing his book after his presentation.
For more information, call Beth Israel at 604-731-4161 or visit
Plotkin's Web site at www.mypsalms.net.
Kyle Berger is a freelance journalist and graphic designer
living in Richmond.
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