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Message
From The Rabbi
Rosh
Hashanah Sermon 207
Rosh
Hashanah Sermon 107
Rosh Hashanah Sermon 5766
Rosh Hashana 5766
I caved- I couldn’t resist the power of the new enlightenment sweeping the nation. So I tied this red string around my wrist. Its actually not the $30 one that I could have bought on the Los Angeles based Kabbalah Centre’s website that is advertised to ward off the evil eye. The evil eye, the website explains, of unfriendly stares and unkind glances we sometimes get. I’m hoping that it’s not essential that I buy the Kabbalah Centre’s red string…unless their string is somehow redder. And I don’t see any evil eyes in the congregation- but that could be because I just started the sermon, or maybe it’s because I am a new father, or maybe, just maybe, my string is working. At any rate – I should have guessed that spiritual clarity was going to come from Los Angeles. It makes sense that my mentors would be Madonna, Ashton Kutscher, Demi Moore, Brittainy Spears: people with whom I have so much in common. If you haven’t been reading Entertainment Weekly, Us Weekly or even Newsweek, you may have missed pictures of the cultural elite wearing red string, reading kabbalah books and drinking kabbalah mountain spring water.
I think that my sarcasm is clearly evident, but there is some good in this pop-culture craze for religion. The craze could be to wear jeans so low on your waistline that the jeans struggle to cover your under garments. Or it could be to talk in such a way that our lingua franca becomes unrecognizable. Despite the fact that those who are in the business of religion for their own gain, have made Kabblah public and something that appears to be little more than a perverse money-making venture, the fact that people in our country are seeking out religion and spirituality, more now than then in the past 50 years, is a crucial and significant thing.
I believe that religion is very important. Religion gives us so much that we can not get from anywhere else. I also believe that religion is important now in the modern world. We are currently going through a crisis of conscience in this world and specifically in this country. The media seems to cover and report on fundamentalists around the world. The Fundamentalists are consistently able of spreading their world-view and of attracting new recruits. They also reproduce at a much faster rate than those who believe in a more mainstream form of religion. Consequently, the brand of religion that most people see is a fundamentalist one, and those of us who believe in a more tolerant and open form of religion are forced to defend religion in general, to come to terms with those who do horrifying things in Religion’s name.
It is important therefore that people in this country and around the world seek out religion in a meaningful mainstream way to spread the word that religion is not something that inspires violence and isolation. In a recent article in Newsweek entitled Spirituality in America, Jerry Adler explored why it is that Americans seek religion and just how many of them are actually doing so. Before I share some of the article’s findings it is important to look at the term religion and the term spirituality. Religion is commonly defined as a belief in, and an acceptance of God with the emotion, the rituals, worship and morality connected to it. Spirituality is defined in a dictionary as something related to religious values. I know that there are people who consider themselves spiritual but not religious, but I will always believe that at the core they are related.
Contrary to my fears the article in Newsweek suggested that people in America are seeking out religion and in particular mainstream religion. For example, 64% of the people polled consider themselves to be religious, and another 79% of the people consider themselves to be spiritual. Well over half on both accounts. 80% of the people polled believe in some form in God, and that God created the world. Only 1% of the respondents said that they absolutely did not believe in God at all, and only 6% described themselves as having no connection to religion at all. This represents a sharp decline in the last 40 years in the amount of people for whom religion is completely absent in their lives. This is of course a poll which has some margin of error and only asks a sample of our society, but I believe that the poll is indicative of the fact that people are now returning to a life with some measure of religion.
I would like to look at why it is according to the article that people identify with religion. The most reported reason is to have some sort of personal relationship with God, the next is to believe and take part in a moral and ethical life, and finally to be part of a community or something greater than ones self. These are all compelling reasons to be part of any religion. Yet each of them faces legitimate questions as to whether or not religion is needed for that element to be a part of your life.
You do not need religion in order to have a relationship with God. One could easily determine what god means for them without belonging to a religion. Yet the God of the Jews, or the Christians or the Moslems, is a God of history. That God is one, with a unique bond to each of those peoples. It doesn’t matter if someone is right or wrong about who has the special unique relationship with God. The God you find in any religion is connected to the people of that religion through good times and bad, and therefore part of a unique special relationship. Having a relationship with God does not mean that we have to feel or believe a certain pre-described way. Our relationships with human beings run the full spectrum of emotions as does our relationship with God. I believe though that it is important to cultivate a relationship with God, and Religion supplies one with the most rich and historical context with which to do so.
There is in modern society a quasi-accepted code of morality and ethics that the majority of the world seems to adhere to with some consistency. For example, there are very few societies in the world where murder is a legal act. In fact, there are plenty of moral and ethical people in the world who have no tie to religion whatsoever. Yet if we take a closer look we see that the moral code that they subscribe to is rooted in religious ideas. Modern ideals like taking care of those less fortunate, being honest in business, not stealing, and of course not murdering originally appeared in the Torah, and were originally championed as important in the platforms of the first organized religions. Religion is the original source of morality.
There are, to be sure, people around the world willing to pervert ideals of morality and tenets of religion in general to advance their nefarious causes. Unfortunately as I said, we hear more about the fundamentalists than any other religious groups. But this is not a reason to abandon mainstream religion when it still has so much to offer, on the contrary, as Siddhartha put it – it is the middle way that leads to enlightenment.
There are many communities that people belong to. The Synagogue or religious institution is not the only place where one can find a community, and many people aren’t even looking for community at all. In a book written 5 years ago, entitled Bowling Alone, Dr. Robert Putnam a Harvard Professor, detailed the fact that more Americans go bowling today than ever before. What is significant is that they are not bowling in leagues. Putnam writes, “We kibitz but we don’t play. We are less likely to turn out for collective deliberation whether in the voting booth or meeting hall, and when we do we find that discouragingly few of our friends and neighbors have shown up.”
Yet Dr. Putnam’s view is not all ominous. He feels that we can and will get back to a community–oriented society if people want to. The outpouring of aid and sustained rebuilding in the wake of our numerous disasters in the last four years are evidence of this very possibility. For me, the religious community is the greatest of communities because of its uniqueness. A religious community lasts longer than the others – It more easily stands the tests of time. The religious community is one where you are able to spend time and share experiences with people who are of similar ideas and values to yours, one that despite its members being removed from it on occasion, when you need it most it responds with all it has. The religious community that I believe in is the only one that embodies all of the great aspects of a vibrant community, all the things we can share.
I have explained to you why I think religion, god and community are important in the in general sense, but I now I want to focus on Judaism, and specifically how we see evidence of this great importance in Congregation Sons of Israel. Our new president Howard Lasner, in his 1st bulletin, articulated that our synagogue should serve as three things. A beit tefillah or a house of prayer, a beit midrash or a house of study, and a beit kenesset a house of community. Our Synagogue and our community is as wonderful as it is because we do all of those things and we do them well.
Beit Tefillah – A house of prayer. This past year was the first in some time that our synagogue operated without the services of a trained cantor. We needed to in order to right our financial ship through some murky waters. Doing this is not easy. Yet our synagogue did it with grace, skill, and enthusiasm while maintaining the level of prayer that this Synagogue has prided itself on for so long. Through the leadership of Joe Honor, Beth Harris, and with the dedication of Barbara Birnbaum and Alice Kintisch it has been a great year despite the absence of a cantor. When I tell colleagues what we have done this past year in still continuing to read the entire weekly Torah portion they are amazed and marvel at our ability and dedication.
I am happy to report that in a few weeks our new cantor Lance Rhodes will be joining our community. We hired Cantor Rhodes not to take the place of our incredible volunteer daveners who have made our year, but rather to enhance them. One of his main goals will be to teach new people to lead and to help others to brush up on their skills. Our Synagogue is a place where anyone can lead prayer and where anyone can participate. It is through prayer and other aspects of our synagogue that we seek out God. It may be to be angry with God or to disagree with our liturgy. Whatever the reason, our synagogue is a beit-tefillah a house of prayer where every Jew can seek out their relationship with God, and their own relationship to tefillah Jewish Prayer.
Beit Midrash – A house of study. Our educational program at CSI is second to none. Through the guidance of Rochelle Kornfeld, Nancy Goldman, and Jill Black, our Hebrew School has nearly doubled over the past year and students are excited about coming to Hebrew School. The educational level and rigorous challenges of our program are phenomenal. Once again this year we have a vast and diverse array of courses to offer in our adult education program: Learn about Judaism’s view on stem cell research, homosexuality, and abortion. Or you could learn about the many different ways to explore the book of Genesis, or you could learn to speak Hebrew. Through the expert teaching and class development of Barbara Birnbaum, and because of a talented and dedicated faculty, we again offer you a chance to expand your minds and to delve into the depths of your Judaism and yourselves.
One of the ways in which this learning has manifested itself is in the formation of our recently started Hevra Kadishah. These Hebrew words literally mean holy society. For those who do not know, when a Jewish person dies the body is customarily washed and rinsed before placement in the burial shrouds. In addition, we do not customarily leave the body unaccompanied from after this ritual and spiritual cleansing called tahara until burial. This a good deed of the highest order. Chesed Shel Emet. An act of loving-kindness that never can be repaid. Under the initiative of Maxine Silverman and Beth Harris over 20 CSI members have begun the process of learning about this ancient Jewish ritual society. I invite you to join us or come to a meeting to find out a little more about this important part of our community.
I invite you all to make use of our building as the great beit midrash- a house of study, that it is, and to challenge and expand your thoughts and ideas through the rich and vibrant lessons that our house of study has to offer.
Beit-Kenesset – A house of community. This I believe is our greatest asset. Our community here at CSI is truly an incredible miracle on a daily basis, all you have to do is look around. This past year has been an enormous one in this Synagogue. We have witnessed unspeakable tragedy, and we have shared in tremendous joy. We have supported one another regardless of the situation when support was needed. From rides to doctor appointments, to attending a shiva minyan, when called upon the CSI community always responds, and does so with swift feet and full hearts.
I would like to share with you a few examples. When my son Samuel was born Elissa and I didn’t have to worry about meals for two weeks. This is only the beginning of our new caring community. Under the direction of Alice Kintisch and Lisa Berke Weidenbaum this community makes sure that no one from CSI will feel alone nor isolated during life’s most important moments. Next I want to tell you that at every Shiva Minyan that I ran this year at least one synagogue member introduced themselves to the person mourning. This is significant because it means that we take care of each other regardless of whether we know the person in need intimately, we take care of each other because we are a community. And of course, this past December when we faced a tragedy that no family, no community should ever have to suffer, we made sure to do all that we could at every moment. I hope that all of us appreciate the incredible community, the incredible beit-kenesset that we have here, and just how special it is for each and every one of us to be a part of such a caring group of people.
My friends, we have something wonderful here, and we stand poised to insure our continued success for the next twenty years. In order to ensure that the foundations of the CSI community are strong for the future in a vibrant and viable way, along with the officers of the synagogue, we have begun to interview architects to handle a major renovation to our Synagogue campus. While our grounds and buildings are beautiful, we need to make improvements that will carry us into the 21st century. This is an exciting time. Imagine a courtyard in the middle of our synagogue where people can gather and share each others lives. Imagine a beautiful new school building where our youth community not only has a chance to learn but a place to go and hang out with other Jewish kids. Imagine our renovated sanctuary that will be bright and handicapped accessible while still maintaining the sacred space that we have created here. Imagine a place that is built by the community for the community with all of our needs and ideals in mind. It will be an open, inviting, and hallowed space that we will all be proud of. If you are imagining just a small percentage of the beauty and holiness of the space that I am imagining then you must be overwhelmed.
We can make this dream a reality. We can ensure that this Synagogue soars into this new century as a shining light for all to see. But it depends on us. We need to be committed to making this work. The officers are working hard to come up with a plan for our community that will help us to realize this dream. There are so many ways to be committed. Over the next few years we are going to need everyone’s time, effort, skills, and expertise to help us with the various aspects of this project. But certainly we will need financial help as well. We know that people are not made out of money and that times can be tight, but there are no higher returns than in an investment in our futures, in our children’s future and in the future of the Jewish people.
The road ahead is not short, but it leads to a wonderful place. For many years our community has been a beacon in this community and a shining example of what the collective good will of humanity can do. People know us around the county and for that matter around the country as place committed to traditional Jewish practice, while also as a progressive, forward thinking place that is committed to the most important of human values. We can continue that glorious and proud tradition for a long time to come if we make sure that our physical presence continues to compliment our spiritual one.
Towards the end of the Shabbat morning service after the ein keloheinu and before the Aleinu, some Synagogues add a Midrash (pg 182 for us) from the Talmud that looks at a verse from the prophet Isaiah. The verse reads, ?All your children [banayich] shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children [banayich].? The Midrash explains, Do not read [the second occurrence of the word banayich as your children, but rather as your builders [bonayich].? Without vowels, the words are identical. It is the builders of the community that achieve great peace. Just as we must teach the Children in order to insure our future, we must also be builders as well in order to ensure the future. Please join the synagogue as we make sure that we will all be builders of the future so that our children can continue to thrive and so that they can make it a great place for their children. Our Synagogue is an exceptional beit tefillah, a house of prayer, it is an intellectually superior beit midrash, a house of study, and finally it is a strong and permanent beit kenesset, a house of community.
In 1947, David Ben Gurion convened his provisional Cabinet to vote on the Partition Plan. During the discussion, Kenesset Member Yitzchak Tabenkin requested an adjournment so that he could consult with some people. After the adjournment, the Cabinet reconvened to vote, and approved of the Partition Plan. But Ben Gurion was curious about the adjournment and called his friend Tabenkin and asked with whom he had consulted. Tabenkin replied, “I spoke with only two people. My grandfather and my grandson.” Tabenkin explained, “You see, my grandfather died ten years ago, and my grandson is not yet born!”
My friends, on this Yom Kippur, we need to consult with two important groups of people before entering this New Year. We must consult with the generation which is no longer here, to give them our assurance that we are worthy inheritors and heirs to this tradition. And, we must stand before those not yet born, to assure them that when they arrive, we’ll be ready. So that this building, this tradition, this people, will be for them as it has been, as it is, for us, a source of knowledge, a source of comfort and of strength, a source of prayer and a source of inspiration for the future.
Shanah Tovah
Rabbi Joshua Gruenberg