Dear colleagues,

A rare, quiet weekday morning. I’m sitting on my front porch before my sons wake up. And before the atypical mid-April heat burns off the morning’s dew. The trees have just begun to bloom. It’s heavenly.

As I delight in the glorious shades of green around me, an old song from my childhood comes to mind. It’s a song I sang as part of my temple’s junior choir in the mid-1970s. Initially I remember the melody and just a snatch or two of lyrics. Some internet sleuthing eventually leads me to a few recordings and the full lyric. It’s called “The World Goes Rolling On,” written in 1968 by Gershon Kingsley and Robert C. Larimer as part of the just-then burgeoning movement to contemporize Jewish music for a new generation of American kids and young adults whose vernacular was folk, pop and rock. It was included in a Jewish Sabbath Service called “Shabbat for Today,” commissioned, as it turns out, by a temple just 45 minutes from my own. After traveling the Reform Jewish circuit, it found its way into the repertoires of public middle school choirs, some of whose renditions can be found on Youtube.

Depending on one’s disposition, the song is either corny, dated and sentimental, or sweet, poignant and hopeful. In these perilous times, and, for me, coming out of a winter of loss, I find it to be all of the above.

Babies are crying and there’s no one to listen
And old folks are dying and there’s no one to miss them
But still the world goes rolling on and on
Still the world goes rolling on

Bellies are growling and there’s no one to feed them
And people are howling and there’s no one to lead them
But still the world goes rolling on and on
Still the world goes rolling on

Mankind is yearning for a human equation
And slowly we’re turning to the new generation
And still the world goes rolling on and on
Still the world goes rolling on

We have a vision of a world without chaos
A practical vision because with or without us
The world will still go rolling on and on
And we would like to ride along

The Valencia conference, just two months away, will find us in the midst of great challenge as we struggle to “confront the intrinsic impact of the sociopolitical on our psychic lives,” in the words of the conference description. Extremes of all kind surround us and likely inhabit us these days. The possibility of new beginnings mingles with the anxieties and burdens of our world. The Jewish concept of tikkun olam comes to mind, the call to repair and improve the world. “We have a vision of a world without chaos.” We will gather to grapple with “the other” both without and within. I look forward to seeing many of you there.

This month’s edition of The IARPP Bulletin features updates from a few of IARPP’s leadership committees and reports from several chapters.

If you would like to inform the IARPP community about your recent publications or presentations, please send the following materials by Sunday, May 28, 2023 to me at MattAibel [@] gmail.com in order for your news to appear in the June edition of The IARPP Bookshelf:

• Title of your recent or upcoming publication or presentation
• An abstract or brief description of its content (around 150 words)
• Link to a publisher (if applicable) so that members might access or purchase a copy
• Book cover photo or artwork (if applicable)
• Digital photograph of yourself (jpeg format)
• Professional contact information as you would like it to appear publicly for our readers (city/town in which you practice or work; email address)
• Book authors, please provide a brief bio of 75-90 words.
• Presenters, please spell out organizational acronyms and include location (if in-person).
• The Bookshelf does not include announcements of IARPP Conference presentations.

Best wishes,

Matt Aibel, LCSW
New York, NY, USA
Email Matt Aibel