Yom Kippur Main Sermon
When I first realized that Andy (Szabo) was going to be speaking today, right before this sermon, I was very pleased to discover that it was actually a great lead-in for me, and for what I was going to talk about myself. Andy was trying to convey the importance of caring for your community, even after you are gone; of contributing to something even though it may not benefit you yourself. It’s about being part of something bigger than oneself, or one’s immediate family.
By now, you might be getting a little sick of my constant harping on about pride. So you probably were hoping that I would take a break from it for a sermon or two. Well, you’d be wrong. I will, however, expand the definition of pride a little.
I began by talking about Pride in Oneself, then Pride in One’s Family, followed by Pride in One’s Community – but all of these are about things that affect you, about making changes that improve your life and that keep YOU connected to those around you. Andy introduced us to the notion of the next step, of thinking ahead to what will come after you. This too is a form of pride, giving to a larger cause, but also caring about people you may never have met, and whom you may never engage with.
I’m not going to focus on the same topic as Andy, this isn’t a Pride in our Legacy Society speech. But I do want to shift our conversation away from our individual needs, away from our synagogue in the here and now, which is similar to what Andy did. As we expand outwards, adding another circle of Pride to our ongoing conversation, please do keep these ideas that Andy has shared with us in mind, and we will return to them later on. Right now, I would like to talk about Conservative Judaism.
This is a Conservative congregation. I am a Conservative Rabbi, trained at a Conservative Movement school in New York, the Jewish Theological Seminary, and we are all affiliated with this denomination through our synagogue. But I wonder if I were to poll all of you here today, how many of you could describe what it means to be a Conservative Jew, and how many of you feel like Conservative Jews.
I imagine the numbers would be quite low, but it’s definitely not YOUR fault. The Conservative Movement has been in an identity crisis for the better part of 20 years, or perhaps more, and we are still struggling to figure out what we stand for, and who we are.
Now, to some extent, maybe it doesn’t really matter. Maybe we can focus on OURselves, here at Ohev, do what we do, work on building this congregation, and not worry about whether we’re part of this movement or that movement. Who cares anyway? Some people are even calling themselves “post-denominational” these days, claiming that movements, as such, are outdated. We’re Jewish, and we’re proud of it, and let’s leave it at that!
The only problem for me is, I like being a Conservative Jew. I love what this movement stands for, I love what it has given me, I continue to be inspired by its theology, its vision, and its leaders, and it makes me feel part of something bigger than just this community. I don’t think everything the movement has done is terrific, I can’t say I’m ecstatic with some of its current leadership, and there are lots of things in Reform, Reconstructionist, and Orthodox Judaism that I think we can learn from, that are really excellent.
Sometimes people fear that if I speak to highly of myself, that I am inherently disparaging The Other. That just by saying, “This is what I like about me,” I am insinuating that you are no good at it. Obviously, I disagree. This whole sermon series is about the value of pride. In this case, I think that when we stand tall, feel proud of our movement, and embrace what makes us Conservative Jews, we will be better at communicating with others. We become better partners in dialog when we speak with self-confidence and pride. I have often found that those who are comfortable with themselves are more tolerant of others; it is the people who are insecure, who need to prove something, and who defend their position the most vociferously that we need to worry about.
So yes, I am a Conservative Jew. I cannot tell you how to feel about yourself, about your own affiliation. I cannot try to convince you why this movement is right for you, and I certainly have no interest in disparaging other movements to try and prove why this is the “right” movement. I can only tell you, simply and plainly, why I am a Conservative Jew, and if you agree with me, or hear things that resonate with you, I invite you to join me on this, my journey of affiliation.
I recently had the pleasure of hearing a panel discussion with three prominent rabbis in the Conservative Movement, Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson, dean of the rabbinical school in California, Rabbi David Wolpe, Rabbi of Sinai Temple in LA, and whom I have often quoted from the pulpit, and Rabbi Ed Feinstein, of Valley Beth Shalom in Encino. (It was a very California-based conversation) Rabbi Wolpe began by saying that when it comes to movement branding, “If you can’t put it on a bumper sticker, you will discover that in fact you can’t enunciate it in a way that people understand, appreciate, or can live.”
Even with a couple of weeks to prepare this sermon, I’m not sure I’m quite ready to create a bumper sticker, that’s a lot of pressure! (Though I will say that our new logo and tagline would actually fit quite well on a bumper sticker! Karen, a new idea for the giftshop perhaps?)
But if I had to pick a term or an idea that I like, it would go with the former Chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary, Rabbi Ismar Schorsch, who wrote a book called, “Polarities in Balance.” I like that idea of two polarized ideas, in this case, tradition and change, being held in a harmonious balance. That is what we do! That is what it means to be to be a Conservative Jew. To keep one foot rooted in tradition, in Halacha (Jewish law), Shabbat observance, Kashrut, the holidays, religious services; yet at the same time always with the other foot in the secular, modern world.
Rabbi Artson, in this panel discussion, talked about the essential questions that drive us as human beings:
What does it mean to be human?
How do I live my life with meaning?
How do I live my life with integrity?
And What does the world need from me?
And we address those modern, and perhaps eternal, questions with a question of our own: Are there resources within the Torah tradition to help me frame my answer? We, as Conservative Jews, try to provide the Jewish tools for addressing universal questions.
What I particularly love about this approach is the fact that it’s a process, what you might expect me to call a journey. Rabbi Wolpe likes to talk about a Judaism of Relationships – focusing on the areas of relationship to the Jewish people, to non-Jews, to God, to Israel, and to ourselves. And, says Rabbi Wolpe, relationships are like Halacha, Jewish law, in that they both change, evolve, and grow.
So that is the first half of my message: Conservative Judaism is about Polarities in Balance, keeping Jewish tradition and secular values in the air at the same time, and it is about being a Judaism of Relationships.
The second half of the message is: How do I feel proud of my movement? What gets me excited about Conservative Judaism and inspires me to tell other people about it, and to speak about it from the pulpit?
Hopefully you’ve heard me speak about Conservative Movement issues at some point, whether from up here, in the minyan, over e-mail, or in person. But let me name a few things going on, that I believe you need to know about:
o One of the biggest issues facing the movement is the situation in Israel. Earlier this year, we were able to postpone a bill that was going through the Knesset, and which the Orthodox are trying to make into law, which would give sole religious authority to the Orthodox Court. It is called the Rotem Bill, and sadly it’ll be up for discussion again this fall. If passed, it would mean that no non-Orthodox conversions would be accepted, and it would, for the first time, tamper with the Law of Return, to start making value judgments about who is a Jew, and who can make aliyah to Israel.
o David Lissy, the Executive Director of the Masorti Movement, wrote a letter, which you can read online, where he talks about the movement struggles. He writes, “When 100,000 haredim (Ultra Orthodox) take to the streets to defy the Supreme Court, the problem is greater than the disruption to commerce which ensues. When a young woman is arrested for the crime of wearing a tallit and another is physically assaulted because t’fillin strap marks are visible on her arm, and when on public bus lines women are told to ride in the rear, it is an attack on the entire fabric of society.”
o Indeed, these are incidents that have happened in the last few months. One woman was attacked in Beer Sheva, not Jerusalem, because it was clear she had been praying with her tefillin on, straps traditionally only worn by men. Another woman was arrested, by the Israeli police, for carrying a Torah scroll by the Western Wall. And women are, in fact, required on some public bus routes to ride in the back of the bus, or they suffer attacks from male passengers, while the driver looks on and does nothing.
o But our voices in the Diaspora ARE heard. We CAN make a difference, if we stand up for what we know to be right, and proudly defend non-Orthodox denominations, and fight for equality in Israel. Yes, Israel faces external threats, and we must defend her against all of those as well. But David Lissy also writes, “We have shown we know how to stand shoulder to shoulder with Israel to fight external threats. Now we have to show our support for the overwhelming number of Israelis who are wrestling with internal challenges to the core values of a Jewish and democratic society.”
o Aside from the situation in Israel, our movement DOES give us cause for great pride in other areas as well. Cantor Friedrich has graciously agreed to serve as one of our liaisons, Ambassadors really, to Hechsher Tzedek. Recently, you may have seen reports in the news about Kosher meat plants where the workers were mistreated, and where the animals were living in terrible conditions. Some might say this has nothing to do with keeping Kosher, that all we care about is having a rabbi bless the meat, kill the animal a certain way, and we’re good to go. It is the Conservative Movement that is spear-heading a change. Hechsher Tzedek is an organization pushing for a separate seal on foods, placed next to other stamps of Kosher certification, but this one indicating that the workers who handled the product were treated well, paid fair wages, and not abused. It indicates that animals were not mistreated, and that they did not suffer to provide you with food.
o For some of us, there is no such thing as Kosher veal or Kosher foie gras, because these products inherently involve cruelty towards animals, and yes, that matters if we’re going to eat them. We have provided flyers on the table here in the Sanctuary if you would like to read more. Thank you to Cantor Friedrich for helping connect us to this important cause, and please let me know if you too would like to serve as an Ambassador to Hechsher Tzedek.
I have given you just a couple of examples of how Conservative Judaism engages with the world around us. “Polarities in Balance” and a “Judaism of Relationships” – these central principles help guide my life, and have already shaped my vision for Ohev Shalom. Along with all the other things I have asked you to feel proud of these High Holidays, I ask you now to also feel proud and confident in the Conservative Movement. We’re not perfect! The movement has got a lot of work to do, and WE have got a lot of work to do. But I’m not ready to abandon ship just yet. I firmly believe that when we are strong and resolute Conservative Jews, we engage better with other movements, other religions, certainly with Israel, and with the world at large.
Pride can indeed have many definitions. Pride in that which is closest to us, as well as Pride in something bigger than ourselves, like a world-wide movement. The common denominator is standing up for what we believe in; feeling enough pride that we care about something and want to see it succeed, grow, and evolve.
Pride is about ownership and taking responsibility…Hey, maybe that would make a good bumper sticker?
Shana Tovah!
No comments:
Post a Comment