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Our Rabbi
The Rabbi's Vision
I begin this month by giving a Todah Rabah (“ A Big Thank You”) to Gail Gogan, our office manager, who has given new meaning to the term, “multi-tasking,”always doing so in a kind and respectful way; to Iris Weinstein, for taking over well Carolyn’s responsibilities at Friday night services; to Ronnie Friedman, who has been spending her days, with her assistants, Steve Lindquist, and Elayne Axel refurbishing the gift shop and entrance hall; and to Paula Krukin Levy and the dedicated Temple Emanuel Food Pantry volunteers, who are teaching us what it means to “Love Thy Neighbor As Thyself”.
This past month, I attended a much needed and spiritually fulfilling rabbinic retreat sponsored by the Institute for Jewish Spirituality. I will talk a little more about the retreat, which had approximately 40 rabbis, in attendance, representing most of the major movements in Judaism, later in my column, but I would first like to ask us two very important questions, the first being, “What has allowed Judaism to survive, despite all the hostility and persecution, the past 2,000 years, and second, “How do we, the members of Temple Emanuel, do our part to help ensure that Judaism will continue for the indefinite future in this country?”
While there are a variety of answers to these two questions, there are two basic and fundamental answers common to both. First, we, as a community, must strive to become a Goy Kadosh, a Holy People, possessing a love for God, Torah, and for Israel, and knowledge of, and an appreciation for, our holidays, prayers, life cycle events, and traditions. The result will be a Jewishly knowledgeable, cohesive, vibrant, and holy Jewish community for both ourselves and for our children.
Second, we must never forget that we are equally called upon by God to be an Ohr Goyim, a “Light Unto the Nations”, performing acts of loving-kindness, caring for the poor, the downtrodden, and those in need, wherever they may be. What great pride I/each of us felt, when within days after the terrible earthquake in Haiti, Israel sent 250 medical personnel—doctors, nurses, lab and x-ray technicians—along with supplies for a mobile hospital, including a pharmacy, a surgical unit, and a maternity ward. Prime Minister Netanyahu explained that “[T]his is in the best tradition of the Jewish People…and demonstrates the Jewish ethic of helping one’s fellow man.”
As special as our Tradition is, we must always remember that Judaism, no religion, exists, or can survive, in a vacuum. Just as the general society, which serves as a crucible for religion in this country, is always changing , the Jewish Tradition must also be dynamic and open to change. In fact, this ability to change and adapt is a third major ingredient or factor, according to many leading Jewish sociologists and anthropologists, which has allowed Judaism to survive for over 2,000 years, and which will determine if our Tradition is going to continue to thrive in a culture and in a society, which is secular, in nature, and in which we comprise but a small percentage of the population.
How has Judaism’s ability to change helped keep the Jewish Tradition alive and well the past 2,000 years? Let me give an example. We have just celebrated the Holiday of Tu Bishvat (“the 15th of the month of Shevat”). The Holiday was initially established, some 2,000 years ago, in the Talmud, as the “birthday of the trees”, so that our ancestors would know how to calculate various tithes as well as the age of trees for purposes of orlah—the biblical prohibition against eating fruit from a tree during its first 3 years.
In the middle ages, the original purpose for the Holiday was no longer valid, so that the Holiday was in danger of losing its meaning and thus no longer be celebrated. The mystics and Kabbalists of Safed, Israel recreated the Holiday, establishing the Tu Bishvat seder, as a time to help repair and bring renewal to a broken world.
As Jewish People began to inhabit Israel, both before and after 1948, it became a day for the planting of trees, which helped prevent erosion and beautify the country. It also became a day of national renewal in Israel, with the Technion and the first Knesset building opening on the 15th of Shevat.
Today, Tu Bishvat, in this country, has become part of the worldwide environmental movement, being the Jewish equivalent of Earth Day.
Returning now to the retreat that I recently attended, it was not your “Grandfather’s rabbinic retreat”. Prayer each day was accompanied by musical instruments and lots of joyful singing. The text study was not primarily of Talmud and Torah, but of 18th Century Hasidic texts, which talk about a personal God and the interrelationship of all people on earth. There were, each day, mediation and yoga classes, as well as time for walks in the beautiful hills surrounding the retreat site. Over 200 rabbis have already participated in this 2 year program.
In the same way, a rabbinic retreat I attended, for several days, this past December, brought approximately 50 rabbis from across the country to focus on how to make social action and the doing of acts of loving-kindness high priorities in our synagogues.
When I was being interviewed for the rabbi’s position approximately 18 months ago, it was agreed that, for Temple Emanuel to grow and continue making the changes needed to become a Kehilah Kedoshah, “A Holy Community”, it would greatly benefit from both ongoing leadership training and comprehensive strategic planning, both to be led by outside facilitators and consultants.
This past month, your Temple Board has taken an important first step, toward our becoming a Holy Community, authorizing leadership training for current and potential lay leaders, with Rabbi Ed Feld, a well respected Conservative rabbi and teacher, graciously agreeing to provide this ongoing training. As your rabbi, I want to thank our President, Wayne Richmon, and the Board, for making this needed leadership training a reality.
The challenge confronting the Jewish People and our synagogue, today, as it has been in every generation, is to continue to teach and to practice the values and traditions, which serve as the essence and are at the core of Judaism, while, at the same time, being open to discovering and implementing new and sometimes even radical ways to bring meaning and joy to the lives of our members and peace and healing to a broken world. In the words of Rav Kook, the first Chief Rabbi of Palestine, our responsibility as Jews “is to make the old new, and the new holy.”
Shalom Aleinu! "May Peace Be Upon Each Of Us!"
Howard Mandell |
