Happy New Year! Now that Yom Kippur is behind us, I would like to share with you the rest of my High Holiday sermons on the theme of Pride. Below you will find the Kol Nidrei sermon from the evening of Yom Kippur. Please feel free to share comments and feedback over e-mail or here on the blog. Enjoy!
Kol Nidrei Main Sermon
If I told you that I was going to start my speech this evening by talking about the prophet Jonah, you might be a little surprised. Jonah is usually the prophet connected to Yom Kippur Mincha, the afternoon service, because that is when we read the Book of Jonah. And my talking about Jonah tonight should in no way lead you to believe that I am trying to hasten, or that I’m looking forward to, the end of Yom Kippur.
Nevertheless, I would like to begin my talk this evening with the prophet Jonah. His full name is Yonah ben Amitai, which generally means that his father's name was Amitai, but it is also an interesting name, because it comes from the root for the Hebrew word, Emet," meaning, "truth." Jonah is, in a sense, the "truth-seeker," a no-nonsense guy, a straight-shooter, who values real justice. God sends Jonah to the city of Nineve to tell the people their city is about to be destroyed because of their sins. He tries to run away, gets swallowed by a whale, after he repents the whale spits him back out, and he agrees to go to Nineve. Pretty much your standard day-in-the-life of a prophet.
At the end of the story, the people of Nineve repent, and so they are saved. Jonah however, is not happy about it, because he felt the people deserved to be destroyed. Again, he's the truth-guy, so he wasn't looking for mercy; he wanted just-desserts! Comeuppance!
God is disappointed with Jonah. At the end of the book, God tries to teach Jonah the value of community, showing him that these people can change, that there is so much good that can come from a community of people working together. If they are willing to repent and change, there is no question they are worth saving.
This evening I am continuing my series of High Holiday sermons on the subject of Pride. I began this series on Rosh Hashanah, but for those of you who weren’t there, or who can’t remember what happened 10 days ago, or who didn’t look on my blog where I have posted the Rosh Hashanah sermons, let me do a quick recap. After tonight, you’re on your own!
I mentioned at Rosh Hashanah services that the word Pride is like a small rock dropped in a pond, with ripples generating outwards; affecting change, growing, and moving away from that central point. Each sermon represents another sphere of potential, possibility, and opportunity for all of us to develop in the year ahead. So far, we’ve talked about Pride in Oneself and Pride in One’s Family.
What Jonah failed to understand is that Pride in One’s Community, and a desire to make that community grow and thrive, is also an essential ripple in our lives. When Jonah looks up and criticizes God for saving Nineve, he takes a phrase from the Bible, and he distorts it slightly to get his point across.
We are familiar with the phrase sung at High Holiday services describing the 13 attributes of God: “The Lord! The Lord! A God compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in kindness and faithfulness, extending kindness to the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin, and remitting punishment” (Ex. 34:6-7). Jonah quotes this line, but he says, “I know that You are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in kindness…” And he stops. Right before the word “Emet.” The Etz Chayim and the Sim Shalom Siddur both translate it as “Faithfulness,” but it’s really “truth.” Jonah says, “I know you’re full of kindness and compassion, but WHERE’S THE TRUTH!?? I wanted justice, and I didn’t get it.”
It’s a cunning re-use of the phrase, interpretation by omission. But the reality is that Jonah isn’t the only one who does that. In fact, the rabbis created their own midrash, their own interpretation, when they put this phrase in our Machzor, our prayer book. They break it a little too early as well! Our liturgy has the phrase ending with “… and remits punishment,” but the quote from the Torah actually goes on, “Nakeh LO Yinakeh,” “as for punishment, God will NOT remit punishment,” but will hold you responsible for your actions, and even the actions of your ancestors.
The full phrase makes sense in context in the Torah, when it is uttered by a Heavenly Voice in front of Moses, but it doesn’t work so well for us on Yom Kippur. We are looking for God to forgive our sins today, and so the rabbis who were skillful editors of Biblical verses (when it suited their needs), put a subtle, but effective and well-placed break to help us get through the holidays with our theology intact.
This concept, of reinterpreting a quote for different purposes, done by Jonah AND by the rabbis, was my inspiration when I myself was thinking about community. I was contemplating the value of pride in our congregation, of rallying around something we care about, and my mind went back to all the quotable lines from the Torah, like the 13 Attributes of God, that are taken in different contexts, edited and re-translated to help convey a message about who we are and what we believe in.
So, when Amy Pollack showed me our new proposed synagogue logo, I was inspired. Along with our new logo, Amy introduced me to the tagline: “Bringing Judaism to Life in Delaware County,” and the many ways it can be read. But it wasn’t just an opportunity for a clever re-reading of the line in different ways, I truly believe the different ways we see this phrase speak to different areas of great pride within our congregation.
Let me show you what I mean. Option 1: “Congregation Ohev Shalom – Bringing Judaism to life… in Delaware County.” When you read it like that, we are indeed on a mission, a journey perhaps, to reignite a love of Judaism; to bring Judaism to life. Cantor Friedrich wrote in his impressive guidebook and calendar to our new year in the Mispallelim Religious School, “[the mission] is to inspire lifelong embracement of Jewish beliefs and practices.” We love being Jewish, and we spend our days trying to figure out how to help you embrace it as well.
The Cantor and I care deeply about all our religious services, from morning minyan, to Shabbat services, and holiday experiences. We have tried to create a light-hearted and informal, yet engaging and enjoyable atmosphere, because worship opportunities are at the heart of Jewish involvement. That is also why we are thrilled that we have successfully made our bimah more accessible, so that anyone who wants to, can join in our services. All are welcome!
Communal meals, Sukkah lunches, and Chanukah candle lighting are also new programs we’ve instituted as part of my vision of weaving Judaism into the fabric of your own living tradition, a tradition you’ll want to pass on to your children as well.
Looking ahead, I am also hoping to bring this Jewish engagement to other areas of the congregation, like Men’s Club, with a series of evening get-togethers outside the synagogue, at a local area restaurant or pub – we’re calling it Torah on Tap.
We are restarting the Confirmation class and strengthening our relationship with Mekom Torah, our local Jewish High School group AND adult ed program, in order to make Jewish learning a life-long experience. Hopefully it will be a journey of enjoyment and enrichment, with educational opportunities for all ages of young people as well as adults.
Soon we hope to put out a program book, filled with a wealth of exciting sessions, workshops, and lectures going on right here at Ohev Shalom throughout the year!
Now if you take that same phrase, and you move the pause around, Ohev Shalom is instead, “Bringing Judaism… to Life in Delaware County.”
Last year Josh, Cantor Friedrich, and I ran an Interfaith Passover Seder at a church in Media. I also participated in a Martin Luther King celebration; throughout the year we were featured in newspaper articles and on websites; and we’ve tried to open up our facility to anyone and everyone in the region, whether Jewish or non-Jewish.
Furthermore, you really can’t talk about influences on life in Delaware County without mentioning our Social Action committee and Fran Stier, who do reading programs, LifeCenter dinners, and food drives, like the High Holiday Drive right now. Thank you so much to Fran and all the volunteers for their hard work, and for representing us so well in the wider community!
In the year ahead, I will be coordinating the Swarthmore Wallingford Interfaith Ministerium, or SWIM, and in November we are resurrecting the county-wide Thanksgiving celebration! On Sunday, November 21st, we are hosting a communal Thanksgiving Day event, with choirs from several congregations, speakers, and of course, holiday-appropriate food. Please keep a lookout for more info on that, and come out to support our effort to bring our religious communities closer together.
Life in Delaware County also includes other Jewish groups, certainly our friends down Rt. 352. We’ve done two annual events with Beth Israel in Media, Selichot before the High Holidays, and an evening of study, a Tikkun, on the evening of Shavuot. We will continue to work with BI, because their rabbi is terrific, Rabbi Linda Potemken, because the people are great, and because they are part of our community. Too often we see synagogues fighting or being territorial. I think everyone loses when we do that. Instead, when we support them, communicate with them, and (heaven forbid!) even recommend them, we are all strengthened. Each place is right for its congregants, and when anyone is ready to affiliate with a synagogue and pay dues, I want them to feel at home there, wherever it may be.
Our tagline has a third division. We emphasize “To Life!” in the center of the phrase, which, for some people, conjures up images of Tevye the Milkman, and the play “Fiddler on the Roof.”
Drawing a connection to “Fiddler on the Roof” reminds us to emphasize culture, Jewish tradition, and even the light-hearted side of being Jewish, throughout our community.
Obviously, this is also meant as promotion for our theatrical performances at Ohev Shalom. After a few years’ hiatus, we are now reviving the Ohev Players, and will be making use of our terrific stage THIS spring. Under the direction of Ann Fackenthall, and the amazing work of producers Penni Starer, Lise Fishman (aka Starfish Productions), and Sharon Kotzen, with several other key individuals, we are going to bring performances back to Ohev! I am thrilled about this, and can’t wait to audition myself.
I might even go so far as to say that “To Life” in our tagline draws us back to the popular Hebrew exclamation, “Le-chayim,” which means “To Life,” thus reminding us of the importance of Hebrew. Hebrew is an essential part of our newly adopted curriculum in the religious school, it is obviously a major part of our worship service, and this fall we are restarting our Hebrew reading courses if anyone would like to work on improving their skills.
Our connection to Hebrew, and thus the Land of Israel, is a central part of what makes us Jewish. I want to take this opportunity to remind you about our Israel Trip 2.0, a newly released and updated follow-up on the successes of the trip in 2008. We are going in August of 2011, and I am so looking forward to experiencing Israel together with all of you. I would like to thank Rich Kaplan, Karen and Louis Stesis, and the rest of the Israel Trip Planning committee for their hard work. It is going to be an amazing trip, whether it’s your first time, your 2nd, or you’re practically a native. (Perhaps especially if you’re a native, because you obviously never take the time to visit these places!)
We hope you also felt that sense of connection to Israel through Alex (Abramowitz) and Ethan’s (Graham) terrific presentation earlier. That is what we hope to give all our young people; a strong connection to Israel and their own heritage, and a way to experience Judaism that is fun, exciting, and full of hiking! Yasher Koach (again) to both of them for a great presentation!
Now I want to share with you just one more midrash, an interpretation, on our synagogue’s new tagline. This one comes from our very own Steve Smith, who’s been taking care of this building, and its staff, for nearly 15 years now. Steve unintentionally created his own version of our tagline, when he put it on the sign out by the street. I scribbled it on a piece of paper for him, and he created a beautiful new midrash that really inspired me.
He wrote on the sign, “Bring in Judaism to life in Delaware County.” What might have been perceived as passive, or done FOR you by someone else, “bringing Judaism to life,” is now active, and an imperative on all of us: “Bring in Judaism.” Tonight I’ve listed a plethora of things that have made me proud to be associated with this congregation over the 15 months that I’ve been here. I’ve told you about ideas, plans, and visions for the future, but I can’t MAKE you feel the same pride, and I can’t MAKE you get involved. How are you going to contribute to our vision, and add your own interpretation of what we do here?
It might be joining one of our newly formed, or newly expanded committees. Or creating a chavura, a peer group with other congregants. You might want to add to something that already exists, or hatch an idea of your own, and inspire others to join you.
It could even be something as simple as handing someone your prayer book. One custom I’ve seen done here hundreds of times, and which to me is emblematic of our culture, is helping others navigate our service. When a new person has entered the Sanctuary, not only have people greeted them and told them the page number, I’ve seen many people physically hand over their own prayerbook, and go get a new one for themselves. Come to think of it, when I’ve stepped out of the Sanctuary myself, and come back in, I’ve had congregants hand ME a prayer book!
I want to conclude with one final story, an amazing experience that happened here back in March. This should be a source of pride for all of us as a community. We were visited at Ohev by a small family of Persian Jews, two men in their 30s and their mother, who were tragically stuck in our area after their father had suffered a stroke during a trip down from New York. They didn’t know anyone, they didn’t have a lot of money, and they were feeling lost and afraid for their father.
They were in awe of this community. And it wasn’t because of me, or the Cantor, or Josh. Countless people welcomed them, sat with them, prayed with them, and showed serious concern for their well-being. The mother couldn’t even speak English, yet many people sat with her and offered her comfort and support. They were in our community for nearly three months, and it was stunning for me, and I know for them, to see how well they were treated in this community.
The truth was that the situation was dire. And sadly, the father passed away, just a few weeks ago. The truth was that they were never going to become members, they live in New York, and even if they did, they weren’t a wealthy or well-connected family. But we are not the prophet Jonah. We are not truth-seekers above all else. As you have heard from all the things I have listed here tonight, we are a community of support, substance, caring, enthusiasm, and we embrace our Judaism; as well as all those who are in need.
This is why you should feel tremendously proud of your community. This is why our community is worth everything that we want it to be, and everything that it could be in the future... if we make it happen.
And this is why I encourage all of you, in the words of my friend and colleague, Steve Smith, to BRING IN Judaism, to your life, and to all of Delaware County.
Shana Tovah and Tzom Kal – May you all have an easy conclusion to your fasts.
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