Shabbat Vayigash Sermon Summary

In this week's portion Judah's impassioned plea to save Benjamin causes Joseph to reveal himself and for the reunification of the Jacob's family. I was fascinated by Jacob's apparent hesitation to see Joseph. You'd think he'd rush to see his favorite again. Yet, he sacrificed and hesitates - perhaps from guilt or fear. But the text provides an answer when it states that Jacob's sons put him into wagons with the children.
Jacob has really gotten old. He's no longer in charge of his life. His dynamism has waned and his sons now control his life.
The same reality occurs today. We get old and our family forces up to surrender our driver's license and the car keys. We may have to move to a "senior" community surrender our independence and live on someone else's schedule.
God offers Jacob three themes of comfort when he tells him not to fear. First, God said that God will be with him. Through everything good or bad, there is something that will always be a source of strength and comfort.
Second, God promises to bring Jacob back from Egypt. This means that the spiritual and ethical heritage imparted by his father and grandfather - will live on his children and posterity. Jacob's legacy will not vanish.
Finally God tells Jacob that Joseph will close his eyes. Joseph will find the time to be with him through his later years and at his death. Jacob will be surrounded by family and their love.
May we too enjoy the blessings that Jacob did in his elder years...



Thanks to Jack Reimer and Michal Shekel for this core of this sermonette

The End of Hanukah for this year

It's been a crazy couple of months with first helping to move my mother from Florida to New York and then my father to be in the same Nursing Home as my mother. I'm beginning to recover from the anxiety and pray that my sisters, who are now proximate to my parents, will not burn out from care giving.

It's been a Happy Hanukah. Services at Kehilat Shalom, Asbury, and Sunrise have been well attended and joyful. Menorah lighting a home is short, but always sublime. The "big" party Saturday night in shul was well attended by mostly youngsters and toddlers - I think everyone had a good time. We had a Shabbat guest and also a nice crowd Sunday night for the holiday at home. It's been a holiday of light - physically and spiritually.

Day Before A Break

Almost everything is ready to take a few days off
Had a nice group last night for our first 'Torah Readers Club' Meeting. We got to study a little together and share a little too. There's something special, holy about reading Torah. Reading ancient words, grappling with God's message within those words is one level. But there is a special joy in mastering a section - of combining the words with the music and letting the community hear those words done properly! For some of us this comes easily, for some of us ... it's always a challenge; but all of us connect with our community and with God in chanting from our sacred literature.
I look forward to coming back from a short break refreshed.

Reviewing this week

It's been a long, good week.
Sunday I officiated at the wedding of a woman whose Bat Mitzvah I facilitated in 1998. It was a beautiful wedding outside of an old mansion in Arlington, VA. The day was gorgeous. The weather was perfect. The bride and groom were delightful and beautiful. Only the planes flying in and out of Reagen gave pause to the perfection. A joyful celebration of two young people in love - one of the great pleasures of being a rabbi!
In the evening I flew down to Florida to assist my sisters with arrangements to move my parents back to NY for supervising their care. My mother has deteriorated in recent weeks due to recently discovered cirrhosis. So on Monday we cleaned up around the apartment, went through the box in the bank vault, met with their lawyer, picked up lunch for everyone together and sold my mother's car. It's more than sad that after 30 years part-time and full time in Florida - my parents needs require them to be closer to my sisters. Whew! - what a 27 hours round trip for me.
Tuesday Night I finished a mini-series workshop in the Upper School: Leading Junior Congregation. The course covered a mix of learning: skills, words, affect and cognition of our Saturday Morning Abbreviated Service. I hope I helped those who are already leading and will soon be leading ... to be better able to continue the tradition and educational experience provided for so many years by Larry Froehlich (z"l).
Wednesday's highlight was the Regional Rabbinical Assembly meeting. Beside seeing two long standing colleagues who are new the area, we had a thoughtful session with Rabbi David Rose to prepare us to teach/preach this Shabbat about Domestic Abuse. It's important to teach about this every once in a while - because it does exist in the Jewish community and someone could very well be helped by just opening the door to the resources that exist to assist those in distress and need.
Last night, we our monthly meeting of our CE21 (Congregational Education in the 11st Century) Task Force. The centerpiece was text and reflection about the nature of and our tolerance for risk. Change always has risk and changing a 100 year old model of synagogue learning involves great challenges to communal norm and individual perceptions and needs. It was a serious and worthwhile sharing.
Shabbat Shalom.

Yizkor Sermon 5771

Yizkor 5771

The essence of Mitch Albom “Have a Little Faith” is his relationship and preparations with Rabbi Al Lewis to deliver his eulogy after his impending death, even though it took amazing eight years journey. The creation of a eulogy is one of the sacred acts that a rabbi or anyone can experience.

This is the 30th Year since I was ordained. I would guestimate that I’ve delivered 390 eulogies (133 in 14 years at KS). Each … was a moment of trying to understand the story of a loved ones life, to articulate its central ideals through the story and to provide an avenue of comfort which is found in the truth that a person’s goodness does not end when their physical being goes to the other dimension.

Over the years I’ve developed a routine to prepare a eulogy that seems to work for me. Hopefully I can meet with the family the day before the funeral. Most of the time the mourners have had a chance to reflect on the death of their loved one and are ready to share stories and laughs and tears. Before going to bed, I organize the stories and themes of the life – and leave an outline on my computer. Also before going to sleep, I search for a text from the tradition that articulates and connects with the goodness of the loved one’s life. Then, I sleep on it. I wake up normally an hour earlier than usual – 6 instead of 7 am (thank God I have a morning biorhythm). And it almost always flows.

If I’ve done my prep right then I am able to answer some essential questions:
What’s this person’s story?
How do their loved ones remember him or her?
What did the person love?
What do the living most cherish about their life?
What lives on from what everyone talked about?

There have been some really tough losses in our community this year and several people have shared after my sermon on the 1st Day RH – other tragic passings of friends and loved ones in recent months.

So before I turn back to Mitch Albom’s eulogy journey, I ask each of you: What’s your own eulogy about? What are we writing every day in our Book of Life as we live?
How do you want to be remembered?
I hope the words will not be spoken for many, many years but …
How do you think you will be remembered?

If you’re not sure you know the answer to any of these questions… then I have a strong suggestion for you. Right after Yom Kippur – compose an ethical will. I assume everyone has a legal will for your property, a power of attorney if you’re not able to address your business of life needs and a living will and health care proxy if you were incapacitated. (Everyone who has any responsibility for other people, must have these documents) If you don’t have these documents – please do it online or contact legal help soon. And if you can: please leave instructions about your funeral. I’ve spoken in workshops but never previously from the pulpit about an experience almost 25 years ago. Mike, a wonderful member of the Temple Israel choir, was dying of brain cancer. He was sometimes lucid and other times not. About two weeks before his death I visited him at his sick bed at home. I asked several questions but then I asked him about his funeral. He said: rabbi, I don’t want to be buried in the synagogue cemetery. I want to be buried in the little cemetery because it’s close to my home and I’ll be close to my wife and children. I can’t even begin to tell you how much this meant and continued to mean to his family… let your loved ones know what you might want … it will be a comfort to you and to them. But about leaving our spiritual legacy – consider seriously an ethical will.

What’s an ethical will? It’s a document or just a letter talking about who we are, what we really wanted out of life and what dreams we realized and those that did not come to fruition. It articulates the values that were central to our life quest and frames the hopes and regrets that are part of our lives. I recently updated my ethical will and it always gives me perspective on my journey professional and with my loved ones and trying to make sure what’s really important is where I put my time and energy.

I’ve heard of people who instead of leaving their ethical will on the computer or in the safe deposit box – read it to their family while their still alive. If we actually expressed our innermost thoughts and feelings – we might truly touch our loved ones and maybe open our closest relationships in new and significant ways.

In recent years I’ve been video recording my father and I need to start doing the same with my mother. There something precious about hearing a loved one’s stories in their own words. With our technology today – make the time and get the stories … to record and remember generations that will not be here forever.

Now writing your own ethical will is not easy. It means you have to accept the fact that we are all mortal – and it’s not something any of us like to think about. But it is being realistic about what it means to be a human being, especially to leave behind our spirit and our goodness. Composing an ethical will is also hard because it forces to think about our values, what is right in our lives and what is wrong. That’s hard to do especially in our culture that says – what ever you feel is OK. But conveying our sense of right and wrong – even if we weren’t always consistent is a responsibility and moral imperative of our tradition. So I urge you to write an ethical will, If you do, you will leave a gift to the future, to children and perhaps several generation more, who will thank you and bless you for it. //

Well, in case you’re wondering, Mitch Albom did do the eulogy. He spoke about the eight years that Rabbi Lewis and he had together. He spoke about having his faith rekindled by witnessing a man who practiced it quietly and purely every day of his life.

He never did find out, why the Rab, as he called him, asked him to do his eulogy. Especially because Albom always knew the Rabbi could do it better than the writer could. When he finished his beautiful remarks which are in the book Albom sat down, the Rab’s grandson walked up to the pulpit holding a cassette tape, and put it in the player and pressed the button.

And one last time a familiar voice rang out over the loudspeakers, and it said, “Hello my friends, this is the voice of your past rabbi speaking!” He made a tape and hadn’t told anyone. It was very short, maybe a minute, but in it he answered the two questions he said he had been asked the most in his life as a man of faith. One was, “Do you believe in God?” He said he did. The other was, “What happens when we die?” To this he said, “My friends, the good news is by the time you hear this, I’ll know. The bad news is, now that I know, I can’t even tell you. You’re going to have to figure it out for yourselves.”

Albom continued: I think what he was saying and what I’m trying to say to you, was simple. You have to have a little faith. It is what will get you through the darkness, the sad times, the craziness, the maddening turn of events. Have a little faith and one day we may indeed figure it out for ourselves.

By the way, he did open that file on God. Albom went back a few months after the Rab had passed, stood on a chair, took it down in his arms and held it. He paused for a moment because the author was flashing on that Indiana Jones movie where they open the arc and he didn’t want his face to melt off. He writes: I really wished that the rabbi was there with me. But when I opened that file, he was. He was, because in it, were hundreds of pages of quotations and stories and articles, and questions written in the Rab’s handwriting, all about God. And I realized that I was holding what he’d always been trying to teach me. That it is not about having the answer, as many of you want to have right now. It’s about the search for the answer. You cannot fit God in a file. If you could, there would be no reason to believe in Him. You could take Him off the shelf any time you needed Him, like coffee.

It’s the choosing to believe in that which you cannot fit in a file. It’s the choosing to believe in that which you cannot see or touch. It’s the choosing to believe that we are here for something other than just taking what we want and turning into worm food. It’s the choosing to believe that there is a divine spark in every single person in this room; that can be touched and used to bring people together. It’s the choosing to believe that makes the whole thing, the maddening, crazy, wonderful, but always ultimately satisfying journey of faith. Don’t walk away from it, like Albom did for many years. Embrace it.

In the beginning, there was a question for Mitch Albom. Will you do my eulogy? In the end, that question and all the others will get answered. I believe, like the Rabbi, God sings and we all hum along. And there are many, many melodies, and we are all witness to it, but its all one song. All one song, one same, wonderful, human song.

So, as we prepare to recite the Yizkor prayers, let us ponder our legacies, those that have been passed along to us and those we are writing today for our posterity. Let the wonderful acts of our forebears ennoble us to act with kindness, care, love and devotion to one another. And if the memories or legacies are not so inspiring, let us pledge to do better and to seed inspiring legacies ourselves, because we are committed to changing the world for the better, one step at a time. Let us find comfort in our sacred task of remembering those who are no longer next to us physically, but who remain in our hearts, and therefore continue in our Book of Life.

Kol Nidre Sermon

KOL NIDRE 5771

The two main characters in Mitch Albom’s “Have a Little Faith” are Rabbi Al Lewis, who I’ll talk about tomorrow and the Reverend Henry Covington, Senior Pastor of Pilgrim Church/I am My Brother's Keeper Ministries. Over many years Albom has become a supporter of the Church. The pastor and the writer talked week after week, visit after visit, as Albom came to know and trust him, and share the ministry's needs with readers who flooded in to help. Covington, meanwhile, says he kept the Jewish writer in his prayers, trusting God will do what He wills when God chooses.

Meanwhile, they focused on their biblical common ground and the relentless challenges before the faithful. In the book, Covington tells Albom, "What I do here, every day, for the rest of my life, is only my way of saying, 'Lord, regardless of what eternity holds for me, let me give something back to you. I know it don't even no scorecard. But let me make something of my life before I go.' "

And he befriended one particular homeless guy, a crack addict, named Cass, who was in an apartment, and Covington said to him, “You know, I can help you out if you need to, I can give you a job, you can help me unload the food trucks.” And Cass said, “Sure, I can do that.”

Unfortunately, Cass had a unique distribution system. It was one for the church, two for Cass. And he would take these things and sell them off and buy drugs. Henry could have said, “Be gone with you.” But he didn’t trap a man in his past, because he had been there himself. And so he waited, and waited. And one night someone broke into Cass’s apartment where he’d been squatting, stole the pipes for the copper, burst the water main and Cass woke up face down in water floating out of the apartment. He came to Henry the next morning and said, “Pastor, I can’t work for you today, because these are the only clothes I own and they are all soaked.”

Henry gave him new clothes. For the first time in three years the man had clean underwear. Then he said, “Cass, where will you live?” Cass said, “I ain’t got no place to live.” Henry thought for a moment and he said, “Why don’t you live with me?” and that night he moved this virtual stranger into his home, his tiny home, and the one available couch that they had, while Henry, his wife and his three children lived upstairs. Not for a night, not for a week, but for a year. An entire year. Until Cass was able to straighten his life out. And today, many years later, Cass is not only clean and sober, but he is an elder of the church.

And he is married, has a daughter. She was born prematurely, weighing only a couple of pounds. The doctors said she probably wouldn’t make it – but her parents prayed and she pulled though and now she is a ball of energy with a grin that could lure the cookies out of the jar. She’s at the church almost every night. She skips between the tables of the homeless and lets them rub her head playfully. Her father is one-legged man named Cass and her mother is a former addict named Marlene. They were married in the I Am My Brother’s Keeper church; Pastor Covington officiated. Her name, fittingly, is ‘Miracle.’ The human spirit is a thing to behold. All because of the kindness of one man, who refused to trap a man in his past. And showed he had faith in mankind.

Not only do we live with change, not only must we change, but positive change is possible.

Miraculous changes do happen. When I was ordained almost 30 years ago, it seemed like every bright sensitive young Jews was going to Nepal and becoming a JewBu. Today Hollywood celebrities are studying Kabbalah. Who could have foreseen a generation ago that Chabad Houses would be almost as commonplace around the world as Starbucks.

A year ago at this service I spoke at length about our experiment CE21 – Congregational Education in the 21st Century. After months of groundwork, the highlight of our efforts last year was the 8 conversations we had with groups of about 10 members in each. I think we spoke with a good sampling of our congregation. One of the most powerful things that we learned in our CE21 conversations was – the community who some of us thought we are … is not the community everyone enjoys. As is often the case, our greatest strengths are our greatest weaknesses. We are a warm and friendly community, but sometimes only to our core members. It’s often hard to break into the circle of friendships and relationships. In many ways we’re pretty good with families with kids – and sadly but not a surprise: not so great with empty nesters, even less engaging with singles in their 20s and 30s.

It’s caused me to really look in the mirror: Are we really there for our members? Do we really provide the opportunities for people to experience the richness of Jewish life on their own terms? ///

So: Where is CE21 going? In the coming year we will be working to design new models of learning for every age and background in our community. We know we need a new model to engage everyone from our youngest child to our oldest senior, from the person who attended Camp Ramah or Day School to someone who never even attended Sunday School.

I don’t know exactly what the model will be, but I hope to be a participant in a new way to learn that’s more like Jewish camp and less sitting at a table or desk. We do need to sometimes sit and master skills and information – but it is so much easier to understand and enjoy when we learn in a life experience and even better in an immersion experience. In so many conversations we heard about peak spiritual moments that were part of organic Jewish living: simchas, youth groups, family gathering – and never heard about a spiritual high in a frontal classroom setting.

From our conversations we’ve developed what I hope will be some attractive opportunities to grow Jewishly, most through experience, what we’ve called at CE21 “low hanging fruit.”

First, in the RS (we’ve developed with several other synagogues and received grant money from Federation) for Tiyyulim – literally trips. After Bnai Mitzvah some of our teens remain active in youth groups but don’t commit to come every Tuesday night for Upper School. Once a month Tiyyulim provides the opportunity for a teenager to be with other teens, to go to a location of Jewish interest and experience, to have a good time and learn a little. Our Upper School students are automatically enrolled in this program. If you have or know a teen who’s not experiencing Jewish life and community – give Mindy Silverstein a call.

2) Melton – one of the great Jewish learning experiences for adults in recent years is the Florence Melton Adult Mini-School program. Their slogan: give us two hours a week and we’ll give you 3,000 years. In conjunction with Congregation Or Chadash 10 minutes from here just off of 27 near Damascus, we’re offering a Taste of Melton: 15 sessions twice a month on Monday night instead of the full course. It is a challenging and inspiring and user-friendly course to build a strong foundation of Jewish learning to your daily life. There are flyers and booklets with more info
HANDS – interest?

3) I’ve thought for many years about a way to both train torah readers but also express our appreciation to the many people who read Torah in the sanctuary or in Junior Congregation. Next month there will be a first meeting of our Torah Readers Club. We’ll meet a few times a year to discuss aspects of reading in our sacred scroll, also find ways of sharing our love of reciting God’s words and finally celebrate during the year the joys of participating in sacred service through reading in the Torah.

We have an amazing, authentic, traditional Conservative worship here on Shabbat. One of the most important things we knew, but also heard over and over in our conversations is that the Saturday Morning service is too long and inaccessible. And there is simply not enough time in the year to come to a class that would help someone with the learning curve. And Jr. Congregation & Tot Shabbat are not for everyone. So: I’m putting on the table two new worship models.

a) What we’re calling for now a Satellite Service. I have four families who have volunteered their homes in the Up-County area for a one-hour long service from 10:30-11:30 AM every other month for people of all ages. The service will be the essentials of the Saturday morning liturgy, learning a little about the service and instead of a Torah reading: a dramatic/role-playing/ or reflective experience about the weekly portion. Of course, there will be refreshments after the service and a chance to meet and get to know others who want this spiritual experience.
INTEREST? Hands?

Last: similar but different location. One of the questions we’ve been asking ourselves: Is this building and this location itself an impediment to exciting, vital spiritual community? I’m also offering a few times during the year an Alternative Torah Service and prayers in the Social Hall during the Main Service. It will run from 10:30-11:15 doing the minimal requirements of the Morning Service and utilizing for adults biblio-drama, Storatelling and drama like Sidrah Scenes to reflect and learn from the Parshat Hashavua. After the service you can join back for the sermon and Musaf in the Main Sanctuary or have a light snack and enjoy Shabbat in your own way.
INTEREST? HANDS?

The most important thing about all of these experiments is that they are intentional about building relationships, about building community. And to do it right, we also need to empower and train others to lead these kind of learning and living experiences. What makes a faith community unique is the quest for sacred relationship with God which is most frequently found in the caring relationship we have with our friends in the synagogue fraternity. Without that sense of belonging, a sense of hevrah, we’re just consumers buying a service, a class, a celebration. And while that’s all some people want, most of us, I truly believe, want experiences that are significant and holy. Those moments Jewishly are almost always found as individual who is immersed in a community that feels like a family. ///

Shifting from the communal journey to the personal quest…
I conclude with a story about the journey to the sacred. Rabbi Brad Artson shares a moving story about his own ‘recalculating’ experience. When he was a student at the Jewish Theological Seminary he envied the many students whose fathers or grandfathers were rabbis and scholars. He did not come from a family of Jewish scholars and he determined that when he had children he would learn with them so that they would carry with them a legacy he never had. He and his wife were blessed with twins. His daughter, who has grown into a kind and compassionate young woman, was never interested in the intellectual pursuits of her father. And his son was diagnosed with autism. Rabbi Artson poignantly tells how he inferred from his children that God had given a thumbs down to his desire to create a hevruta, a study partnership, with his children. He grieved over that. But when his son became a bar mitzvah he asked his father to study Torah with him in preparation for the day. Rabbi Artson began to study with his son and they have continued to study the parasha every week. Rabbi Artson concludes that what he perceived as God’s dismissal of his dream was only due to his preconceived notion of what the fulfillment of that dream would look like. He had to “recalculate” what it meant for his dream to be actualized.

What I find so valuable in Rabbi Artson’s story is first that he comes to recognize that his blessings are right in front of his nose. So many of us consider our lives to be only partially fulfilled because our dreams go unsatisfied, but often they are not unsatisfied, it is simply that we repel what is staring us in the face because it does not fit our preconceived notion of what we thought the fulfillment of the dream would look like.

A second lesson that I draw from Rabbi Artson is that he did not despair when he thought his dream would not be achieved. For he continued to teach, and to learn Torah and he is recognized today as one of the premier teachers of Torah to American Jewry. Until his “Aha” moment when he realized that his dream had actually been achieved, he never stopped pursuing his commitment to spreading Torah to a contemporary audience. His personal disappointment did not undermine his belief in his ultimate ideals and values.

This kept him centered and whole. For most of us, our emotional pain comes from the gap between what we think we should be and who we truly are. We hold an image of ourselves that is imposed upon us by our parents, our society, by our status, by our dreams. But we live over here. Instead of appreciating who we are and what our uniqueness is, we are constantly striving to live the image of ourselves. And the gap between who we are and who we think we should be is the source of much of our pain and deters us from truly appreciating the blessings that constitute our lives.

I hope you will take advantage of the synagogue this year. Don’t be surprised if you receive a call from someone requesting your participation in something we thing you’d enjoy. And also don’t be afraid to call me, a member of the staff, Carrier Ettinger, Karen Klemow, or any other member of the Board or School Board with a way to connect to God and to old or new friends. Miracles do happen – because we are God’s hands in this word to heal the world and to find joy and inspiration in our daily lives.

High Holidays Sermons 2

ROSH HASHANAH 2ND DAY 5771

Continuing to build on yesterday from “Have A Little Faith” by Mitch Albom. He writes: I want to share with you a story about another person, who grew up the same time as he did. His name was Henry Covington. An African-American child, one of seven, born to a man who worked as a hustler and a woman who worked as a maid. When he was five years old, his mother was taken away to prison after trying to shoot his father. His family was so poor that at night they would put huge pots of rice on the counter in the kitchen, so that the rats would jump into the pots of rice and not come into their bedrooms.

The young Henry was thrown out of school when he was 12 years old for fighting. When he was 13 his father died. He became a petty thief at 14, a bigger one at 15. By the time he was 19 years old he had so many enemies that one of them fingered him in the killing of a cop. And even though he was nowhere near the scene, he was advised to plead guilty to manslaughter, lest he be found guilty for murder. And he was sent away for seven years to a federal penitentiary for a crime he did not commit. He swore that the world would owe him when he got out.

He didn’t think of all the crimes he hadn’t been punished for. When he got out, he made good on that promise and he got into the drug trade, and he did very well for a period of time. He sold drugs and at one point, he earned a half a million dollars a year. And then Henry Covington made a nearly fatal error, he tried some of his own product. Pretty soon he was as desperate and strung out as all the junkies he’d been selling to. And a few years later, he had just passed his 30th birthday, alone, without any money, desperate, he robbed his own drug dealers, which is never a good idea.

And he banged waved the gun in their faces and said, “You know what this is.” And they almost laughed at him. They gave him some drugs and he took off. He went home, he got high and in the middle of all that he realized, “uh oh, they know where I live.” And he ran out front of his apartment and he lay on the ground and he held a shotgun and he put a bunch of trash cans in front of him, and there on the ground, waiting for a car to come around the corner to murder him. Sure that the next set of headlights would contain his killer and that would be the end, he did what many people do in moments like that. “God? Get me out of this. If you save me tonight, you can have me in the morning. Help me, Lord. Spare me Lord. Save me, Lord.”

And Henry detoxxed himself. And he became a minister serving the lowest of the low – the poor, the mentally ill and the drug addicts. Under Covington's ministry, nine people live at the church year round, nearly 50 sleep on donated mattresses in the gym, and when there are meals during the week, 100 people will show up for dinner. Typical Sunday worship draws 60 to 100 people — neighbors, volunteers and some folks who, minutes before, were wandering the boulevard conversing with unseen voices. He just gives food, clothing and shelter with no judgment. He just gives life with no strings attached.

When people tell him that he’s good, my response is “I’m trying.” But there’s some people who know him from back when – anytime he makes that trip to NY – and when they hear he’s the pastor of a church, all of a sudden, it’s like “I know you getting’ paid boy. I know you getting paid. I know you. “
No he says, You knew me, You knew that person, but you don’t know the person that I’m trying to become.

That’s the theme of this sermon and this sacred season: You are not your past! Change is possible: in our nation, in our synagogues and in our own lives.

Nearly two millennia ago the Temple of Jerusalem was destroyed. I’m sure many people thought that would be the end of Judaism. But Judaism changed. Sacrifices were replaced with prayer. The Temple itself was replaced with rituals at home. And more than rituals - acts of lovingkindness are our pathway to forgiveness and healing.

I believe: We live in a time of change. We feel the need in our country, in our faiths and in our personal lives. I was reading a recent article in the NY Times about the changes in life for those in their 20s and earlier 30s. A professor at my alma mater, Clark University, Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, believes there’s a new reality: emerging adolescence. With extended life expectance, the possibility of later in life pregnancy, the on-going quest for career and meaning – people are not only marrying later, but taking their time figuring out what they want to do. There’s no rush to find it either. The old expectations that you would marry in your 20s, have your career locked down, start a family in your mid-20s and settle down – are not normative in mainstream American middle and upper class families. A century ago scholars debated whether adolescence was a stage of development – clearly in most cultures it is. And: There’s an interesting debate in the sociological community as to whether this “emerging adulthood” is a new state of development or just a blip in our culture. Either way: we’re not yet prepared to meet the social and spiritual needs of this part of our American community. Change is part of life and culture and part of being alive is adjusting and addressing those changes.

I know we’re looking for changes in our national life. We want the essential services our governments offer us: education, infrastructure, security … but there’s so much inefficiency – is it really worth the cost? We’re angry at the inability of our systems to protect the poor, to prevent greed from destroying charities and lives, and to empower those who want to succeed in making a life for their families have a chance to achieve their dreams.

I really am concerned. I’m not sure my parents were happier, but my parents (may they have a healthy year) were more affluent that I am: it was clear from their income, their homes, their cars and their vacations. Unless things change: I foresee that my son will have a life-style less comfortable than the one that I enjoy. The things we possess are not all that important – but the dream that our children will be better off than we are … was true for my great-parents and grandparents – what has to change for this value to continue? I don’t know the answer to this question, but I feel a moral imperative to part of finding the answer.

100 years ago prognosticators and newspapers were predicting the end of Reform Judaism. And before WWII social commentators were certain of the demise of Orthodox Judaism in this country. But even movements change: new ideas, new dynamic leaders, touching people lives with significance and sanctity. The same is true today for Conservative Judaism – we are on the cusp of major transformation as a movement and within our synagogue communities.

I want to reflect on the nature of those changes.
(At KN – I’ll be talking about some directions for change)

If we could travel back forty years, we would find a different congregation at its founding than we have today. At that time people were moving out of DC and from down-county; almost everyone had rich memories their immigrant parents or grandparents. Then, our members felt a strong sense of nostalgia. They loved the smell of brisket and gefilte fish and they had heard Yiddish actually spoken. Reform Judaism did not appeal to them because it was so...Reform. On the other hand, our members knew full well they weren't Orthodox. They wanted to sit together as a family on Shabbat and were more likely to attend services late Friday night than Shabbat morning. They wanted a synagogue that felt traditional but wasn’t too religious. There was a gap between who they were and how they perceived themselves, but that didn’t matter because that was how most Jews saw themselves.

Fast forward today. The nostalgia that inspired membership in Conservative congregations is all but gone. McDonalds has replaced brisket as the food of choice. People don’t join congregations because it reminds them of their Bubbe & Zaide. Young families have a whole variety of conflicting priorities. Synagogue membership and religious school are at not at the top of the list. Truth be told, if all you're concerned about is having a "Bar Mitzvah," then there are alternatives to the traditional path of religious school: you can hire a tutor or find a one day a week alternative which promises you a Bar/Bat Mitzvah even if the Bar Mitzvah date is in a few months. Chabad & JEWEL understands this - and they've jumped on this reality. KS created its religious school from the perspective that Bar/Bat Mitzvah is a privilege and not a right, accorded to the child who has attained a modicum of knowledge and Jewish skills. The alternative schools dangle the prize with minimal expectations – we’ll make it convenient, we won’t charge you very much, you’ll learn the little bit we can give in two hours… this fits well with where most families are coming from today.

A member of our congregation shared with me a story that sums up one of our dilemmas. She met a young family that had just moved into town. When she asked if they had considered enrolling their children in our religious school, the young mother responded: "No, we're sending them to Chabad - that's good enough for our kids." When, in all your life, did you hear a Jewish parent settle for "good enough" for their children? We want our children to really learn and to grow strong not only academically, but morally and spiritually. Learning how to read Hebrew, knowing something about Jewish history & developing a love of Israel are unimportant in such a 1-day program. I can speak about it but we share a responsibility to promote high quality Jewish learning for our children and for ourselves.

Having said that, I haven’t yet addressed the question of how we should do in the face of these challenges. What do we have to offer? We are standing, I would suggest, at the crossroads. The choices we make in the next year or two will determine the future of our congregation. We can follow the path of the alternative Sunday schools and provide a loving environment; but only a minimal, convenient education … or we can challenge people to find the best in themselves, to see Judaism as a life choice, and not just an opportunity for a party.

I want to tell you a secret: nobody ever joined a synagogue because they love contributing money. That's not what brings or keeps people here. If all we're doing is engaging in acts of self-preservation, then we've lost our way and it's time to shut the door. KS needs to have a vision of Jewish life that it wishes to share with others. That’s what CE21 has been working on and what our strategic planning initiative has been grappling with. Every program that takes place inside and outside this building - even fund raising - must be about that vision. And it cannot just be about this building - it must be about helping people get the most out of living a Jewish life.

Why are we here?
To teach Torah.
To inspire people through prayer and our religious traditions.
To help people find the sacred dimension in their lives.
To be a member of a religious community – questing for that holiness in life.
To find comfort and solace in times of loss and to share joys in happy times.
To engaged in acts of Tikkun Olam, tzedakah and hesed (loving kindness) with our fellow Jews.

If you don’t know: our board is struggling to make ends meet. It takes as much money to run a 350 family congregation as it takes to run a 275 family congregation. And this has been our challenge. But we should not lose sight of why we are here or what it means to be Jewish.


So what happens then when we fall short? We must make changes and down size or we need to turn to all of you to play a more active role in the life of our congregation; not talking about money, about doing. And maybe that's a good thing - a synagogue should not be about living vicariously through the clergy.

Synagogue life is not a football game where thousands of people watch a bunch of husky guys in tights play the game. This is a participatory experience. It has no meaning without personal and regular engagement. We need to empower our members and challenge oursevles to participate in the joys of Jewish living. I need to engage you more – to enable you find your spiritual niche in our community. You need to stop listening to the rabbi and cantor and waiting for the baal korei to read the Torah. We shouldn’t presume that the minyan will be there for us if we never attend. And we shouldn’t think that if we have a strong congregation, it doesn’t matter what we do in our personal lives. Jewish life needs actively engaged Jews and not bigger buildings or more programs.

It's not too late for KS. We are an extraordinary congregation, with passionate and caring members, a strong core from which to build Jewish life, and a vision of what Jewish community should be. We need to refocus from worrying only about dollars and start worrying even more about deeds. We need to stop encouraging passive Judaism and encourage people to step up to the plate and be part of the community. The issue is not whether we have a budget (we will have one) but whether we are a community. We need to ReJEWvenate ourselves! It’s a time of change – we need to rejuvenate…

There is a great joke that you might have heard that purports to be the actual radio conversation (released by the Chief of Naval Operations no less) of a US naval ship with Canadian authorities off the coast of Newfoundland in October 1995.
CANADIANS: "Please divert your course 15 degrees to the south to avoid a collision." AMERICANS: "Recommend YOU divert your course 15 degrees to the north to avoid a collision."
CANADIANS: "Negative. You will have to divert your course 15 degrees to the south to avoid a collision." AMERICANS: "This is the captain of a US Navy ship. I say again, divert YOUR course."
CANADIANS: "No, I say again, you divert your course"
AMERICANS: "This is the Aircraft Carrier USS LINCOLN, the second largest ship in the United States Atlantic Fleet. We are accompanied with three Destroyers, three Cruisers and numerous support vessels. I DEMAND that you change your course 15 degrees north. I say again, that's one-five degrees north, or counter-measures will be undertaken to ensure the safety of this ship"
CANADIANS: "This is a LIGHTHOUSE. Your call"

Change is forced upon us. But we can direct that change – we have real choices. That’s what these Days of Awe are really about. And while I must talk about Jewish life, the liturgy is much more about our personal lives. We must change and we can change to make our interpersonal relations richer, healthier and happier. We are present here to reflect on the one or two things that need transformation and can be improved. With our spouses, with our children, with our families: we know we need to change, not them, because that is not in our power, but only ourselves – for that’s the only thing over which we have some control. May God give us the wisdom, the strength and the courage to do the real avodah – the real sacred work of these days: to make the concrete plan to make a few small changes for a year of life. Amen

High Holidays Sermons 1

ROSH HASHANAH 1ST DAY 5771

There was a country preacher who decided one Sunday that he was going to try to put the fear of God into his parish congregation, and so he came out and began his sermon by saying, “Remember, everyone in this parish is going to die.” And he noticed this one guy up front was kind of smiling. And he looked at him and said, “What are you so happy about?” and the guy said, “I’m not from this parish … I’m just visiting my sister.”

This is a story told by Mitch Albom – the Detroit Free Press & ESPN reporter and famous writer. This year I’m going to base my sermons on themes from his most recent “Have A Little Faith.”

The book begins about ten years ago, when Albom came back to his home town Cherry Hill, NJ to give a talk and after he finished, the rabbi of the synagogue that he had grown up in, now 82 years old, using a cane, pulled him aside in the hall and asked me a question that would change his life forever. This was the question. “Will you do my eulogy?”

To which he answered, “huh?” Will you do my eulogy? Who was I to accept that? I just said I wasn’t very religious and besides, who does a eulogy for the guy who does eulogies? I figured rabbis, priests, pastors, they had this stuff all worked out with one another ahead of time, you know, like “if I go first, you do me, if you go first, I’ll do you.”

So how I got into this loop was beyond me. But not wanting to disappoint him I said, “Well if you want me to speak at your funeral, I need to get to know you as you lived. I mean, it’s true I’ve known you my whole life I guess, but always from the seats and the cheap seats at that. I need to get to know you if you want me to do your eulogy as a man.” To which he said, “I accept.”

And that began a series of visits to this rabbi, Albert Lewis, Temple Beth Shalom; Cherry Hill, NJ. (33 years ago he was my teacher of homiletics at JTS) They were quite funny even from the very first because when I arrived, I drove to his house, I had never done that before; I parked in his driveway, I had never done that before; I walked up to his front door, I had never done that before and so the doorbell kind of threw me because I didn’t know that priests or pastors or rabbis had doorbells. I just thought they sensed you coming.

But we walked in and he welcomed me down to his office. We went inside and sat down in his office, a room I had never been in before. I’d never been to his home before. I’d never seen him in anything other than a robe or a suit before, and now he was wearing Bermuda shorts with socks and sandals... which is never a good look.

And we sat in his office and I looked around and I saw all these books and papers and I saw files on all these shelves. On the top shelf, was this huge big fat file right in the center and across the front it read, “God.” He had a file on God.

I always wanted to ask him what was in that file, but I didn’t have the nerve, so I decided I would begin my little process here with a very appropriate question. I took out a yellow pad, trying to do this eulogy thing very straight with a yellow pad and a pencil. I sat down and the first question I asked this 82 year old man of faith was, “Do you believe in God?” And he said, “Yes I do.” “Do you talk to God?” “I talk to God all the time,” he said. “And what do you say to God?” I asked.
And he had a habit of singing his answer and he chose this time to sing his answer and he said, “These days I say ‘Dear Lord if you’re going to take me, take me already! And if you’re going to leave me here, leave me with enough strength that I can help my congregation.’”
“Do you ever get an answer?” I asked. He looked at me and smiled. “Still waiting,” he said. Return to this theme at the end… Over eight years Albom and Lewis met for laughs and inspiration and the anguish that come from sickness and finally death.

2nd Central Character of the Book is: Rev Henry Covington (talk more about him tomorrow) But let me just mention: Henry had been a drug dealer and drug addict. But God came into his life at his lowest and now he selfless leads a Church in Detroit providing God’s unconditional love as well as food, clothing and shelter to the lowest of the low.

Rev Covington’s Church in the slums of Detroit is a metaphor for life and the quest for meaning and hope. The church had once been the largest Presbyterian Church in the entire Midwest, but that was in the 1880s when it was built. Today it has been left to rot in one of the worst sections of Detroit. Windows broken, bricks falling off of it and a massive hole in its roof and ceiling through which rain and snow literally poured in on top of the congregants when they tried to pray; buckets strategically placed to catch the water pouring through. And it got so cold inside this church that at one point they had to build a plastic tent, made of two-by-fours and plasticine, just to be able to huddle together on Sundays, to have a place that was semi-dry and warm, to pray. A plastic tent, in a church, in the 21st century in the United States of America.

That’s the metaphor I want to talk about today: There’s a hole in every roof
Brokenness is part of being alive.

I feel it even more this year: illness in my own family, sickness and death in the congregation, the demographics changes and costs of synagogue which is a scary Catch 22, and of course, the course of our country suffering through an on-going recession.
The world is broken – there’s a hole in our personal roofs and the rain and snow of living and dying just pours in on us. What can we do with the holes in our roofs and the brokenness of our lives?

One of the most inspiring things about Jewish mysticism is its central story about the fundamental brokenness of the universe. It’s there according the Kaballah by design, part of God’s plan, essential for the human partnership with God. In Hebrew it’s called: Shevirat Hakaylim. When God began creation, God contracted God’s self to make space for the creation. He/She/It made the matter of the universe in that space where God was not fully present. Then God sent the Divine Light into the matter, but the physical could not hold that spiritual light and shattered. The light became enmeshed with the material. The world is broken with the divine mixed up with the mundane. Why did God allow this mistake to occur? So that people could heal the world – so that we could understand the universe (someday) and treat all aspects of God’s creation in a way that will repair the damage of the shattering and bring harmony and peace to creation. When we choose the good, when we do an act of kindness, when we do a mitzvah (ritual or ethical) – we help heal the Universe – that’s a Jewish answer to why we’re here.

Brokenness plays a big part in our rituals on this day, especially in Shofar blowing. The middle note of the shofar cycle is called Shevarim – literally the broken note.
It’s supposed to be the sound of sighing - it reflects our disappointments, bereavements, dreams lost – Shevarim is the echo of the broken heart

What do we learn from this sound? We learn about the preciousness of life. Life is short and because life is so precious every soul is irreplaceable and every passing therefore tragic. We know that life is uncertain, so how do we cherish every day: we take no day for granted. Especially at this Season we remind ourselves: Don’t put off the good deed, the kind word, the phone call of love. Today we feel it in our souls: There’s no guarantee for tomorrow

In one of his books Rabbi Harold Kushner’s explains Mourners Kaddish. You probably know there’s nothing in Kaddish about death. Instead it praises God for the world God has given us. Mourners recite it as a way over time of expressing gratitude for a person’s life, what he or she added to the world rather than grief for the person’s absence. The Shevarim note then is a tribute to life, to how much a single life can mean. Gratitude ten is the spiritual balance to brokenness.

The Kotzker Rebbe used to say: “There’s nothing as whole as a broken heart”
It is through pain and heartbreak we learn how to feel. When our hearts break, they create an opening for all kinds of emotions (good and not so good) to rush in. It creates an experience of cleansing: When we purge our souls of old dreams that never happened, we create space for new dreams, new dimensions of understanding.

Over the years as difficult as it is: I’ve observed in myself and others: We’re so alive when we cry. Our souls are alive in sadness and anguish when we’re sick, when our loved ones are ill and when we’ve lost a friend or loved one. I read an article fair number of years ago, that many people went to see the movie Titanic, over and over again. Not because it was a great movie or even a great story. It was to be in a place where it was OK to express real feelings. Feeling the brokenness of life is about letting ourselves feel – a truly feeling the love which is greater than the loss.

One of my favorite psalms of the service every day, just before the 1st Mourner’s Kaddish in the morning is Psalm 30:
Years ago one of my teachers said this is the schizophrenic psalm: The author says: God’s anger last for a moment and my tears linger for a night
Nothing can shake me if you’re with me but I’m still terrified
What good is it if I die and am silenced, but you are gracious and my help
You transform mourning into dancing and sackcloth into robes of joy
I will praise you forever…

Reciting this Psalm this year though – through all the tragedies and almost tragedies: I feel in a powerful way that while I used to serve God because I had it so good, now I try to serve God – because God is God. I sense the brokenness around me and in me in new ways and I pray for the strength to be there for others – because that is the pathway to healing for us all.

In some mysterious way, realizing what I’ve almost lost and lost this year – make me whole even with what’s missing.
We see the world as it really is. The world isn’t a birthday party where if you’ve been good, you get what ever you want. It’s an unpredictable place, with hours of brilliant sunshine, mixed with hours of excruciating darkness and redeemed by occasional flashes of courage and love.

Last: There’s a story told about a young Chasid, a young student, who approached his rabbi with a problem. He said ‘Rebbe, no matter how hard I try to draw close to God, I’m blocked. I know you taught me, ‘Ivdu et HaShem b’simchah, that we must worship our Creator with joy, but I can’t find the joy. There is just so much suffering in this world, so much hardship, so much loss, so much that I can’t accept. What can I do?’ His rabbi replied, ‘There is one man who can teach how to overcome your obstacle. You must go and see Reb Zusya of Hanipoli. He can show you how to find the joy even with all the hardship of life.’ The young Chasid trusted his rabbi, and so he set out on the journey to find this Reb Zusya. After a lengthy trip, he arrived at what he was told was this great teacher’s address. As soon as the young Chasid beheld Zusya’s home, he understood why his rabbi sent him here: it was the most miserable little hovel he had ever seen in his life. Here was a man who understood hardship and the worst kind of suffering. When the young Chasid knocked on the door and was bid to come in, what he beheld astonished him even more: the conditions of the inside of the hovel were worse than the outside, and this Reb Zusya who stood before him was a man in abject poverty, near starvation, who had clearly been battered by illness and difficult times his whole life. ‘Reb Zusya, thank you so much for welcoming me,’ said the young Chasid. ‘My rabbi has sent me here because he said that only you could teach me the wisdom of learning how to accept the terrible suffering of life, and still find joy and closeness to God.’ ‘He sent you to learn what from me?’ asked Reb Zusya. ‘…To learn how to accept life’s suffering with joy.’ Reb Zusya laughed. ‘Young man, I’m so sorry to disappoint you, but I really have no idea why your rebbe sent you hear to learn such a lesson from me. I have nothing to tell you about such matters. You see, God has been very good to me my whole life. Maybe you should go and learn from someone who has had some real misfortunes, God forbid.”

Zusya isn’t just showing us that if we think about life and its misfortunes differently, if we adjust our expectations, then life will look all right. Rather he says, “When we behold this world through the deepest part of our souls, we no longer have eyes for lack and for loss. We can see the goodness and the bracha, the blessing of life, of all of it... It’s that life really IS blessing. There really IS abundance. It doesn’t matter how bad it seems to be: Life really IS okay!”

That’s why we come together in the High Holiday Season. We come to reflect on all that is broken in our life and all that is blessed in our lives. We use our liturgy and our sacred text as a mirror to gain perspective on where we are, where we’re going and how to heal the holes in our personal spiritual and interpersonal roofs. May God grant us a manageable portion of brokenness this coming year and the healing to know God’s love in our lives.

What a week!

It's been a whirlwind the last two weeks. The week of the 19th I had to go to Florida for a few days to help out my parents. Between going to financial institutions for them and a flight that arrived back into BWI after midnight - it took me several days just to feel like myself again.
This has been a good week. A lot of people just dropped into to talk. Most people don't come to the rabbi anymore to have access to a compassionate ear. This was a week filled with people just needed someone to hear them out ... and help them sort through their thoughts and feelings. Maybe it's the approach of the High Holidays. Although no one talked about this, we want our relationships to be right. That's what the liturgy is focused on during the Days of Awe. Without even being aware many people are doing the real work of the season... to heal and re-energize their relationships with associates, loved ones and friends. I always feel alive and sense a holiness in hearing people's passion, fears and hopes - it's what makes us human along with faith, to be able to cope with all that life has to offer.
I feel almost ready for Selichot late tomorrow night and when I finish my second Rosh Hashanah sermon on Sunday, I'll be ready for the first round of the High Holidays.
Shabbat shalom and Shana tova..

Review of the Week

Sunday we completed our formal opportunities for people to fill in a letter in our soon to be completed, brand-new, Torah. The experience of those who have signed has been inspired. The connection to God and to the past & the future has been felt by almost everyone. People have been brought to tears (of joy and of remembrance) by the moment... It has been difficult answering people's concern about working with the "provider" of our Torah Menachem Youlus. We are not buying a reputed Holocaust Torah. We are purchasing a new Torah that is being completed in Israel. While I am upset by the charges and counter-charges related to the Holocaust Torahs, I know that everyone who has signed their letter with Rabbi Youlus, has experienced a moment of sacred connection.
Monday we had a pretty good Board Meeting of the synagogue. Karen Klemow lead a wonderful ice-breaker where people got to know eat other a little better. And I was pleased with my 20 minutes on the sacred nature of serving on a synagogue board which is reflected on every level: governance, fiduciary responsibility, the Jewish values we reflect and the sacred respect and communication we provide as synagogue leaders.
Tuesday the highlight of a busy day was my time with the Active Retirees. In preparation for the High Holidays we reflected on who or what we are praying to during the Days of Awe. We looked at some classical sources which we use during the holidays: God in the blessing formula and the 13 Attributes. Also we looked at the three 'Uvechain Tayn' sections of the High Holiday Amidah which connect us with our fear, awe, joy and gladness of the sacred season. We are fearful of our future: for life and health. We are in awe of the diversity and complexity of life. Joy fills us through the blessings we enjoy. And gladness flows when we are supported by those who care about us. These are some of the emotions which enable us to connect with God. Also we looked briefly at the HH Confessional. The 44 lines of public admission of sin can be understood on one level as directing us to work on behaviors and thoughts which cut us off from God. When we are angry, scorning, lying, gossiping, egotistical and arrogant - there is no room for the Divine to flow in and around us. Healing one or two of the "missing the marks" on the list open us to again feeling connected both to loved ones and God.
Wednesday. I attend my first meeting of the Professional Advisory Group at Shady Grove Hospital. It supervises the Continuing Pastoral Education students at Shady Grove. Most of my own pastoral knowledge has been acquired by experience. I am fascinated as I assist with the supervision of students doing CPE by the process and levels of experience which can be supervised and refined. I appreciate Adventist Health Care's commitment to enhance the experience of those who are ill; as they teach future pastors the skills to assist with spiritual healing.
Thursday Night we had a wonderful meeting of the CE21 Task Force. We completed our congregational conversation with around 80 congregants in the Spring. We have refined our Visionary Description based on those conversation and created a more refined statement of our communities hopes for spiritual connection through learning and community in the near future. Last night's meeting was facilitated my Dr. Meredith Woocher from the Partnership for Jewish Life and Learning. She taught us (for us to use ourselves) a model for moving from our Vision to Goals, Objectives, Strategies and Activities to implement our hopes and ideals. It was a good conversation with lots of different people participating and sharing our broad dreams and the steps needed to see them to fruition. It was energizing and filled us all with expanded hope that our hard work over the past year and half really will see success in a few years.

Where God Was Born - Part 3

Some final reflections on Bruce Feiler's "Where God Was Born"
Feiler goes to Iran after Iraq & Israel. Persia was one of the great empires of the Ancient World. We often remember it from it's almost conquest of Greece at the height of its power. For the Bible, the Persian empire was a source of incredible blessing. Its domination was benevolent. The Persian destroyed by Babylonia, allowed the Jews to return from exile, and paid for the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the Temple. The Book of Esther reflects the dangers of the empire, but also the general tolerance and prosperity of its dominion.
If I'm not interpreting him to freely: Feiler had some interesting thoughts about the origins of the concept of the Messiah. Cyrus the Great changed the world. He brought peace and prosperity. His empire encompassed most of the civilized world (not counting the Western Hemisphere). He's a model for a ruler who bring understanding, justice and benevolence to the world. One leader who spreads peace... in part, perhaps in visionary imagination, of the model for the Messianic vision of the prophets?
Feiler reflects on his quest for spirituality and meaning. He is insightful about the tensions in the late Second Temple period between a physical, land based (Israel/Jerusalem), Temple-focus of spirituality and a Torah, land-less, democratic based approach to Jewish life.
I think these same tensions are reflected in Judaism in the early 21st Century. We have physical synagogues with budgets, staffs and programs in tension with changes in the American community where people want Torah and spirituality within personal experiences of their own choosing. I would add to that thought, that just as Judaism rejuvenated itself from its spiritual conflicts and crisis 2000 years ago, with creativity (and God's help) it will find new ways to create meaning and holiness today and into the future.

Where God Was Born - Part 2

Bruce Feiler's journey in his book took him from Israel to Iraq. As he points out the Bible is filled with condemnation and curses for Bablyonia. Babylon destroyed the First Temple of Jerusalem in 586 BCE. Yet, he points out, that in Mesopotamia Jews became settled, prosperous and content. Exile is a part of the journey of life and recovery hopefully is too. The Jewish community of the Tigris and Euphrates multiplied and became affluent. It would produce a dynamic Jewish culture that would generally flourish from 500 BCE until 1950 when Jews began to leave for Israel in large numbers. The Babylonian (authoritative) Talmud was produced there. The Gaonim of the yeshivot unified Rabbinic Judaism in liturgy, practice and thought that still unites Jews around the world. Further, despite the violence of the Empire, Babylon and its predecessors (Sumer, Assyria) give the world fundamental approaches to life: writing, calendar, gardens, imagination and the idea of freedom. Their philosophy created a world view where a person and community does have some control of their environment. A chunk of our world view today was developed in ancient Bablyon.
Everyone loves the story of the Tower of Babel. Human beings try to emulate God and reach the heavens and God scrambles their language and sets them apart to never threaten Him/Her. Feiler points out that the story is a fundamental statement about God's desire for diversity. Leaders who have tried to make everyone the same - are filled with human arrogance that leads to their own end. Only God is one ... and the Creation story and The Tower story demonstrate (in the Jewish mind,) God's love of a diverse world. Many kinds of species. Many cultures and quests for the truth. Many paths of spirituality. God created a world with different life - the richness of creation is a true gift which we should appreciate.
Finally (with High Holidays not so far away) Feiler spends several pages on Jonah. Everyone loves Jonah because he's swallowed and escapes the great fish and offers a message of universal hope for forgiveness and improvement. Jonah is not heroic: he runs away, he's frequently angry. But in the depths of the sea, he senses and verbalizes God's compassion and has a moment of true humility. The story affirms that change is possible even if Jonah himself has a tough time understanding that truth. The story teaches the importance of ethical behavior as the means to saving our lives spiritually and literally. For all the physical power of Nineveh it is their humble changes of interpersonal behavior and quest for compassion that enables them to survive. The Assyrians destroyed the Ten Tribes and almost destroyed Jerusalem in the 7th Century BCE, but their legacy is a mixed bag, as also for Babylon: Great violence, but also great prosperity and hope for the human condition.

Where God Was Born 1

One of the books I enjoyed this summer while on vacation was Bruce Feiler's: Where God Was Born. It describes his journey exploring the spiritual/biblical connections in Israel, Iraq & Iran. Just a few things that moved me in his tale/experience.

King David. I had always been fascinated by David as master politician, master poet/singer, a true devotee of God, dynamic leader and immoral husband and parent. But Feiler expands this when he writes about David as a warning against power. David was the greatest King of Israel militarily and politically, but his personal life is a mess. He spoils his kids and is a murderer and adulterer. Yet the Messiah will come someday from his descendant. That leader will have learned the lesson of David's life. He will be meek and humble, honest, ethical and just. Real power is spiritual, it is interpersonal - political power does get things done, but lasting power is found in caring and moral relationships. They live on even after our lives are over.

The Temple. Biblical religion began with sacred places. The holy place was the spiritual destination for intense, beautiful moments of God's presence. But even before the destruction the prophets were articulating a different spiritual destination. God is found not in places but in the way we treat each other. God can be found anywhere and when the First Temple was destroyed Jews gathered and socialized, prayed and studied and Judaism evolved. Yes, we are physical beings and need places to meet and experience God together. But there is no one place for those sacred moments - since God is everywhere and people can be anywhere - together we can feel the Shechinah. Yes we can still go to Jerusalem and it's special. But we can go to a synagogue anywhere in the world or in the beauty of nature and feel the holiness of life. In the smallest minyan or a simple act of lovingkindness - God can be experienced.

More on this book very soon

Parents' Anniversary

I'm back from my month off. It was a good vacation - great week at the Beach in Lewes, DE and the third weekend of July a nice party for my parents' 60th wedding anniversary in Boca Raton. I've been married for almost 26 years and the thought of completing 60 is possible, yet almost miraculous.
It was special to have all of us together - my sisters, their partners and all the grandchildren. We don't, with our busy lifestyles and distances, do it often enough. My sisters are in the NY Metro area and my parents are in Florida. The last time we were all together was for my niece's Bat Mitzvah three years ago, before that it was Tali's Bar Mitzvah in 2003, and 10 years ago my parents for their 50th - who took all 13 of us on a Caribbean Cruise.
The stresses of family - personalities and conflicting demands remain. Yet for all the mishugas: it's nice to enjoy unconditional love... my parents and my sisters have always been there for me. And it's incredible after all the things our parents have given us that we're able to give back a little in helping them with the challenges as they have gotten older.
Finally, while my parents are far from perfect - they're both wonderful human beings. My father's generosity and optimism have always been precious gifts. My mother's devotion and values of caring are part of each of her children. On most of my recent visits to FL, I have had a strange inkling that this might be the last time I see one of my parents. Although no one can know what life will bring, it was a good visit... feeling that there will be many more nice occasions in the coming years to spend good times with my loved ones.

Kayaking with Dolphins

Went out early this morning on the Atlantic from Lewes, DE... kayaking out to where the dolphins feed in the morning. It was amazing. It was overcast so it was much cooler outside than the past few days. When we arrived at the point - there was a pod of dolphins swimming (maybe two). What was very special and not all that common is that they swam along with us as we paddled. Most of the time they were 10-15 yards away, several times they were 10 feet away. Once or twice I thought (although I'm not sure) that I heard them "talking." You could definitely hear them breathing from their air holes. One of them had a large chunk missing from its dorsal fin. We were out a little less than two hours and for the 2nd hour around 7-12 dolphins swam with us as we paddled south. At the end a big rain cloud came over and it poured - so we went in to the beach. Neat to use the waves surfing them onto the beach in Cape Henlopen State Park. All in all - a really fun morning. Not quite as good as scuba diving with dolphins (many years ago in Freeport, Bahamas) but wonderful exercise and great close up dolphin watching.

Eisenhower

I've almost finished yesterday and today (while on vacation) Eisenhower: Soldier & Statesman by Stephen Ambrose. I've always been fascinated by WWII, but always thought little of Ike. He was the President when I was born, but was never impressed with him as leader of the European campaign in the war or in what I had read of him as President. The book treated him positively but balanced. It pointed out his weaknesses and biases often based in his background.
But I was impressed with his warmth, his calm and his decisiveness in most crucial situations. His intelligence to analyze complex situations and see the essence of the issue - is a skill I wish I more often possessed. His ability to build teams, often of those who style and approach was very different from his, was a precious gift. In reading about his presidency I was most impressed with his constant striving to have a military that met our needs for self defense but not more. The ability to deter an enemy or strike an opponent does not require every piece of expensive military hardware. His immense prestige in leading the victory against Nazi Germany in the West enabled him to balance the demands with the needs and to save billions that helped the prosperity of the 50s and the relative peace of the latter part of that decade. Never having read about him before - an impressive legacy of military and political leadership.

Starting to recharge even before vacation

It's been scary not being able to read except for work requirements for several months. June has quieted down - to normal busy and I've been able read for myself now for several days. I'm really enjoying Doris Kearns Goodwin's "Team of Rivals." I've always been fascinated by Abraham Lincoln. The story of his political early failures, rise to leadership and ability to work with his former opponents under the incredible stress of the Civil War is truly inspiring. I knew he was one of our greatest Presidents, but reading about his humor, his ability to inspire, to listen to disagreement and see the essence - I wish I had some of these wonderful leadership skills. As I begin my vacation tomorrow I hope finish the book and maybe compose some more comments when I'm done.

Torah Portion: Spies

Painful portion in the Torah reading this week
Israelites on the verge of going to conquer the Land of Israel are filled with self doubt and inferiority – they would rather go back to Egypt that face the challenges of living on their own
The consequence … is the ultimate punishment – they will die and not enter the Land
I would have thought the Golden Calf was a more evil, more fundamental sin
But not understanding how to worship God is different from denying God’s spirit in one’s life
I paraphrase what our Bar Mitzvah said in his speech: you can’t live without hope – if you feel that life is futile, where do you find the strength to find joy in life.

Strangely: The Torah answers this existential question with information about sacrifices, the dough offering, sin offerings, the Shabbat breaker and tzitzit. Huh?

My old answer: these are things to be done when Israel enters the Land. It’s a message of hope – to those hearing it: you may not go in yourself, but your children will and do all these things.
As I was thinking about this strange juxtaposition in the portion … and baseball, … and came up with a different answer

What happens when you mess up? We all make mistakes.
Sometimes the mistake is devastating – a community believes the 10 spies, elects a Hitler … it goes down the road of its own destruction – for at least that generation.

Sometimes you do something wrong and you know it’s wrong – the community knows you can’t gather wood on Shabbat and make a fire and you’re warned and you still do it. Normally you just get cut off from the spirituality of rest – but not in our portion. It’s a capital sentence here. Another example hopefully not fatal: If you (the Bar Mitzvah) practiced a new, difficult gymnastics routine without a spotter – you’d certainly be putting yourself at risk of serious injury. Doing something you know is wrong (smoking, overeating) is just dangerous.

However: Most of the time our mistakes are not intentional – they’re inadvertent.
We’re driving and pick up our cell phone and boom.
Sometimes you’re an umpire in the 9th inning of a perfect game and you’re in position, but somehow you blow the call?

What do you do – when you just weren’t focused on what you’re doing and you blow it?
I think you do what Jim Joyce, the umpire, did Wednesday night. First you own up. If you can’t admit you did wrong – you’ll never be able to avoid the same mistake again. In this case, there’s nothing you can do to make it right, but one kind of forgiveness is possible … from admitting you’re wrong and then doing it right from that moment on.

You also hope (but there’s no guarantee) that if you’ve hurt someone else – when they know you and know you’re sincere that they can say – I could have made that mistake, I’m not happy, but I do understand. I think that’s what Armando Galarraga felt and it was certainly what he said. He was classy and gracious and because of that both the pitcher and the umpire have earned a tremendous amount of respect – not because their athletes, not because they’re great at their jobs, but because the both saw the humanity of the other person. I hope that because of what happened that Gallarraga’s perfect game will be as famous a Don Larsen’s or Harvey Haddix’s 12 inning masterpiece even though he then lost.

I think: That’s why the portion talked about the sin offering. You didn’t intend to mess up, but you did and then you realize later what you did. If it’s on purpose you can’t bring the sacrifice – you can’t do something symbolic to increase your mindfulness. When it is inadvertent you can… it’s a means of saying, I’m going to do better in the future. I’m going to pay attention to my life. Help me to do that God.

I also think that’s what the tzitzit are designed to do. Clothing doesn’t change who we are, but it can remind us of who we are and what we’re doing. Think about what we’re doing. Don’t walk through life thoughtlessly. Be mindful of what you say and do. Concentrate on what you’re doing. Be in the moment. Do what you believe is right – because you study and reflect. Slow down – live. Feel the wonders of life. Make the time to share your life with people you love. Maybe even feel the connection to the life flow of the Universe. It’s how you stand in the Presence of God.

Last week of April in review

Highlights of the Week
Last Sunday there was a wonderful meeting of the area Conservative synagogue in Baltimore to honor Young Leaders. Kehilat Shalom honored Karen Klemow who has run our Wine Tasting Program for several years and has chaired our CE21 Educational Experiment for the past 2 years. It was wonderful to thank her for all her intelligence, talent to engage others, and hard work. The centerpiece of the evening was a panel discussion about the future of prayer/worship in synagogue communities. The questions were, of course, better than the answers. How do we make worship exciting, engaging, accessible and inspiring? What works for one person doesn't work for the next. The one service 'fits all model' is dysfunctional for too many in the community. I'm sure I'll write another time on my ideas and some directions we'll be taking short-term and long-term.
Monday I took my first day-off in weeks.
Tuesday I introduced an interesting project to the Upper School (8-12 Grades). There is a legal case on-going in Georgia between the State and the American Civil Liberties Union about the Kosher law in Georgia. The law requires food sold as kosher to meet "Orthodox Hebrew religious rules and requirements." One of my Conservative colleagues who does kosher supervision would be breaking the law in his work since he's not Orthodox. Many state have laws to guard against fraudulent kosher stores. Yet, in general, we believe in separation of Church and State that the government should not get involved in matters of religion. Should the government in the public interest impose one religious standard on everyone? The students are taking the opposite sides of the case and will debate next week in front of a lawyer - cool!
Both Wednesday and Thursday, not the highlight but, the focus of the day was counseling people experiencing illness in their families. There are no black and white answers on dealing will infirmity and the challenges of care-giving. Several things stand out in both conversations. 1) Make sure that your house is in order: financially, physically, spiritually - because no one knows for sure what tomorrow may bring. 2) Medicine is a "artsy" science - our bodies are so complex, each of us is different - that absolute diagnoses and prognoses are not possible. Reading good information, asking the right questions, listening carefully, and then making the best decision possible with our loved ones is sometimes all we can do. 3) There is a spiritual side to sickness beside the spiritual. We know this but sometimes forget. Sometimes there is no cure. But with support, kindness, communication, meditation and love - there can always be spiritual healing. We can be sick, but we can be surrounded by the love of friends and family ... and God
Thursday Night: the CE21 Task-force met. We starting looking at the trends of our congregational conversations. Seven conversations with nearly 70 people were held in February and March. We're not done looking at the data - but there are already some interesting insights about where our community is, what & where they want to do, and from there we should be able to do some creative, experiential activities to meet the needs and dreams of our community.
Today: I've been getting ready for honoring our Educational Directors. We're celebrating Amy & Mindy with the participation of students in the service, the presentation of gifts from the classes, and a thank you from the School Board. It promises to be a lovely service and evening.
Shabbat Shalom.

Funeral for an infant

The focus of last week for me was going to Boston to officiate at the burial of a one-day old. Born on Friday to a lovely couple I had married in 2005 (the bride was in our Confirmation Class in 1997), the baby boy died suddenly Saturday.
When I was called on Sunday, I was filled with sadness for them. A century ago infant mortality was still relatively so common, that Jewish law indicating that we just bury, but don't mourn, made sense. Today, in the liberal Jewish world, pregnancies are few and any loss before birth or shortly after birth is a traumatic experience. I feel lucky that my son is healthy and grown - but I could certainly empathize with feeling life, seeing new life, and experiencing new life for 24 hours and then losing that child ... what an excruciating anguish.
It also brought back memories of my middle sister losing triplets who could not be brought to full term 22 years ago. In those days there was no liturgy, no format to ritualize one's grief. I feel lucky today, especially due to my female colleagues, that there are rituals and prayers and poetry to assist with mourning the loss of an infant.
As I preached yesterday I found only small measure of comfort in the rituals and prayers.
I found incredible holiness in the words and actions of the couple. They supported each other, they communicated their sadness to each other - the souls intertwined to cope with the moment and share the loss together. I also felt God's presence in the support of family and friends. They were grieving too, but they surrounded the couple with God's unconditional love. And last, I was amazed, moved and inspired by the OBGYN and nurses from the hospital who attended the burial to support the couple and to also find healing for themselves.
It wasn't easy. It was only the beginning of recovery. But it was an honor to facilitate a moment of healing and a small, holy connection in death back to life.

Review of the Week

I'm still have trouble finding time to sit down and compose, but I have been pausing at the end of every day and thinking about what I learned.

Last Friday 4/9. We had a great Leadership Team Meeting of our CE21 project. We received the data of the Congregational Conversations of the past months. Preliminarily, we need to rethink and reformulate how we create community. What worked for the first 20 years of my rabbinate was never even 75% effective, but it may be even less engaging and empowering today. It's time for new structures and experiences to connect people to new friends, sacred community and God.

Last Saturday at the Bleich Bar Mitzvah a member of the family was an old friend who I hadn't seen in many, many years, Ray Panitz. It brought back so many wonderful memories of Camp Ramah. Also listening to his career path changes - it gives me hope that when I'm ready to retire (I don't know when) there could be a life after.

Sunday 4/11 I went to Debbie Togut's funeral. For the past decade she has been the 2nd Hazzan at Bnai Israel in Rockville. I've know her for over 30 years: She was a camper of mine (I was unit head) in Camp Ramah in New England in 1977 or 78. She was this tall, beautiful, sweet, intelligent, sweet voiced, incredible davener and torah reader. There was a joy that flowed from her in everything she did. She was wonderful, also, active in planning activities (pe'ulat erev in particular) for her fellow campers. It was devastating to think that at 46 with two young children she's gone. The only comfort I had at the grave was listening to a flock of birds near the cemetery singing in a high chirp, something not far from her voice. I thought she would have liked their singing... or maybe she was even singing with them.

Monday we had long, but good Executive Committee. I am especially happy about as we reflected on the experience people are having filling in letters in our new Torah. [It's even more important than the $100,000+ we raised in pledges] Menachem Youlus, for all the bad press he's been receiving, is really creating sacred moments for our families. People are really connecting to the spiritual nature of our holy text. It's been sublime.

Tuesday I went to a mid-day meeting through AIM with the CEO of Adventist Health Care, Bill Robertson. He's honestly one of the few people I've met in the county who is a leader. He's intelligent, well read, thoughtful, understands politics, and still is spiritual. He has a vision for his institution and the county that I rarely hear anywhere else. It nice to go to a meeting and come out energized. I hope we'll be able to work with him in the short term of immigration issues, but in the long term on housing, transportation, and education.

Wednesday the 14th I had mikvah duty. Once a year, I sit on the Beit Din in the rotation of the Conservative rabbis in the area for conversions. We receive essays from the adult candidates about their spiritual journey and spend half an hour with each getting to know them a little more and then joining them to our people through immersion in the ritual bath. It's always special. We officiated for 4 adults and two children. The stories of the journey to find a connection to God and community - were beautiful and powerful. It's sad that most adult born-Jews don't have the spiritual growth experience of our adult Jews by choice. I'm once again inspired ... hearing their stories and their commitment to our faith.

Thursday - as I prepared for Bible Study in Numbers 18, I was wondering why don't we tithe anymore? And as I reviewed this section about offerings to the priests it was finally clear why. The tithe given to the Levites and priests was for their service to the Temple. Especially crucial in the aftermath of the Korach story was their responsibility to prevent encroachment with the holy - which would lead to death. Since the Temple is not standing - there is no risk of encroachment. Since the levites are not performing the protective duties - they are not paid. No one else can receive their special portions. We do give charity (and can give as much as 20%)- but not tithe without the Temple to the priestly clans.

Today - I am finishing my drash to the Bar Mitzvah this Shabbat. The Chancellor had a wonderful piece in the JTS weekly that part of the core idea. The laws of skin diseases and infestations of clothing and houses - reflect the need not only for cure, but for spiritual healing. The ancient discussion of these issues is much less concerned about cure. But, we today don't always pay enough attention to the spiritual side of illness and property damage. I appreciate now: the way the priest visits someone everyone week when their sick or their home infested and connects a family to community and God through their presence and concern. Maybe we should have more rituals for healing and after a home is restored; to nurture our quest for physical and spiritual health and realize the degree to which the emotional and the physical are interconnected.

Shabbat Shalom

NEW TORAH STORY AND VIDEO IN THE GAZETTE

You can read the whole story and see the video at:
http://www.gazette.net/stories/03242010/gaitnew192508_32549.php

Story:

Elisa Linowes picked up a turkey quill to write on holy scrolls her synagogue will use for generations.

"It's neat that it will be here for many years," the Germantown resident said. "Who knows? Maybe if our kids get married and they have children and they stay in the community and continue educating their children in our synagogue, they will have the opportunity to read from a Torah that we've actually helped [to write]."

Linowes, her husband, Richard, and her four children worship at Kehilat Shalom Synagogue on Apple Ridge Road in Montgomery Village. The synagogue's leaders started The Torah Project to raise funds and help build community while fulfilling a holy commandment. The Torah, or Jewish sacred text, includes 613 mitzvah, or commandments, one of which calls on Jews to write a Torah during their lifetime.

"Torah is the wellspring of Jewish life," Rabbi Mark Raphael said. "On some levels, we believe that it is God's words to us. And we search it and we interpret it for insights to how to live a good life."

In October, Kehilat Shalom commissioned a scribe, or sofer, in Israel to write a new Torah for the synagogue, an effort that costs between $40,000 and $50,000, said Carrie Ettinger, a congregant helping to manage The Torah Project. The Torah is written with more than 304,000 letters and the scribe left open almost 2,000 letters for congregants and their extended families to fill in.

Officials are still taking pledges, with plans to cover costs of the Torah and raise additional funds for Torah repairs and educational programs, Judith Kranz, executive director of the synagogue, said. Families or individuals can sponsor a word, a letter, a line or a verse. Donations range from $18 for a word to as much as $1,000 for a passage, or parcha.

The full Torah includes 62 panels and will not arrive in Montgomery Village until September, Kranz said. Congregants are now helping to complete two panels, the first and the last of the sacred scrolls.

This Torah is the fourth Raphael will dedicate in his life, and it is unique, he said. The previous three were refurbished; this is the first Torah the 57-year-old will write in.

The year-long project will be completed at a Sept. 26 dedication ceremony during the holiday of Sukkot, and officials hope that all 267 families who worship at the synagogue will write in the Torah, Ettinger said. So far about 75 families have participated, Kranz said.

Rabbi Menachem Youlus is leading monthly educational programs on the Torah, which is written on special parchment, Ettinger said. Writers use a turkey feather quill, special ink and special fonts.

"They don't use anything with metal because metal is used to create weapons," she said.

The new Torah is expected to last several hundred years, Linowes said.

"We have spent our life raising our children and doing Shabbat and doing these rituals, so now here is something that we are doing together as a family in public to create for the community," Linowes said. "This is something that is in front of the community, but it's also for the community. It's not a self-focused thing. It's outward."

Her son, Jeremy, 14, who made his bar mitzvah at the synagogue, daughter Dahlia, 9, and son Nathan, 8, joined her and Richard on March 14 to write in the Torah. Daughter Selia, 16, was out of town.

To participate, contact Kehilat Shalom Synagogue at 9915 Apple Ridge Road, Gaithersburg, MD 20886 or 301-869-7699. Educational programs are set for Sunday, April 11 and Sunday, May 16.

Videos

I haven't posted much recently but hope to get back into the routine of writing regularly. I have posted a handful of videos on You Tube over the past months. I hope to post more soon.

Included are:
Blessings before the Haftarah http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7rVxpG9V_U
Doing an Aliyah http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdnd15trhvk
A piece about Writing in the Torah for Mitzvah 613 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaEWk7oTO7Y
How to Do Hagba http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gxFqMOhFqo

Interfaith Dialogue

Last Sunday I attended an interfaith program at Tikvat Israel in Rockville. There was a panel discussion with local leaders: Buddhist, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu and Christian. There many points shared about the spiritual quest which resonated with me and I share just a few:
How would I describe my relationship with God: a personal one or awareness of an impersonal force? Yes to both. I certainly do talk to God asking for strength and wisdom and from personal experience sense that God does love me (and everyone). I also have frequent experiences of radical amazement, often in the wonders of nature, flowing through an awe which fills me with an awareness of the creative and loving flow of the Spiritual Force of the Universe. I also frequently experience wonder in the knowledge of another person's story and soul - I affirm that these connections are possibly because of the Divine connection between all the spiritualities of the universe, thanks to God.
A few of the speakers spoke about: MYSTERY. I know that God exists having felt the Presence, but I don't understand what God is. I believe this is impossible for our finite minds. We can't conceptualize a completely spiritual reality - since we can only conceive of physical reality. The mystical tradition affirms this when it articulates the idea of "Ein Sof" (literally 'without end') - that the God who created the universe is inherently unknowable, except for God's emanations into creation. For Judaism we also live in the mystery of the suffering of the world. There are partial but no fully satisfying answer to: why a good and powerful God would create a world filled with so much suffering. This (and human free will given God's knowledge) are paradoxes in which Judaism is willing to live.
Third, when do I feel most distant from God? For me there are three internal negative which eclipse God from my life. When I'm not in the moment ... God is distant. For example, when I'm worrying about the logistics and choreography of services, instead of praying, I don't feel any connection to God. Second, when I'm angry, especially at someone else, it's almost impossible to pray (just to ask for calm) and empty of spiritual connection. Finally when the prayers/thoughts are all about me - I don't feel the holiness. I used to hate the artificial breaks in the Yom Kippur Service. I! hated the mass outflow of people who would rush out of services after the sermon before Yizkor. And I raged! again after Yizkor at everyone who rushed out and blocked the Cantor from beginning Hineni and the Musaf Service by their "exodus." I! know what's best for people - they shouldn't leave! The readings we do now really help me to focus on continuing to be in the right place spiritually and (even though I may disagree about priorities) to allow people their own spirituality: to feel uncomfortable reciting the Memorial Service while their parents are still alive or to leave to get their kids and to spend time with their family. When the worship is about me - I can't daven. There are times when I deeply meditate at the end of the Amidah that the "me" actually fades away and for a moment or two I sense something beyond me - connecting everything.
Just one more of many thoughts shared and reflected upon last Sunday. Someone commenting on the historical and present-day intolerance too often created by our various faiths said, and I paraphrase: "It's scary when we're so sure we know what God wants me to do..." To think that I possess the absolute truth and that I can impose that certitude on others - is truly terrifying. I think the great religious traditions all have slices, large pieces of God's message to mankind. To think I'm the one who possesses the whole answer - to often leads to human suffering and certainly not to sanctifying God's Name and Presence.

Shabbat Sermonette

I've always been ambivalent about the themes in our sacred literature of God as warrior. I know that it is powerful metaphor for divine power ... and seeing God's hand of justice defending the disenfranchised, fills me with hope and even some courage. And although I am excited by reading the Story of the Red (Reed) Sea and God's mighty hand crushing the Egyptian chariot (tank) corps ... still calling God "eesh milchama" - a man of war, is disturbing.
My new insight [from one of my colleagues] is understanding this metaphor from yoga. One of my favorite, yet challenging positions on Tuesday mornings in my class (when I have time to go) is the 'Warrior pose.' It's great stretching, great toning and takes great concentration. It energizes me for the rest of my day. But the warrior pose is mostly not about physical strength, it's about mental strength. It takes warm up preparation. It's about focus. Thinking about your position, breathing, relaxing into the position and maintaining it - it's as much internal as external.
Maybe that's what it really means to be a warrior. It's about meeting the challenges of life: some physical, many interpersonal, just as many struggles within for making the right choices. Ethics of the Fathers asks: who is the person who is truly mighty? The person who can control their inclinations... That's real strength and power.
Maybe that's what it means to be a warrior. It certainly does in yoga. Maybe it's God who gives us the focus and strength to make the right choices. That would make God the Ultimate Warrior - the spirit that makes possible the strength to choice goodness.