Erev Rosh Hashanah 5774
L’shana Tova! I am really glad to see you!
I would like to ask you to reflect quietly for a moment about why you have come here this
evening. We each have our own answer. Our answer has a lot to say about where we really
stand relative to religion.
There was a time when I prayed three times a day and was observant of Jewish ritual. I did not
want to be guilty of having missed a day of observing practices that I believed God expected of
me. I remember gum on Pesach at age 8.
I believed that God judges us on the High Holidays and that is was very important to satisfy
God’s expectations. It was a theology based on some anticipation of reward, but mostly on fear
of punishment.
My views have evolved over the years. Today, I am here because I care deeply about
Judaism and what it teaches us, though I no longer feel the need to be compulsive about
observance out of fear of divine punishment. Today I am here because I want to participate in a
service that celebrates the possibility of a new beginning. Judaism teaches valuable lessons
about moral self-awareness, repentance and change. It prompts us to make amends and seek
reconciliation when we have hurt someone. Judaism challenges us through its teachings, some
of which are conveyed and reinforced through its observances, to transform ourselves to be the
best people that we can be.
We see the propensity for human selfishness and greed in the news and all around us every
day. Judaism provides a way to tame selfish passions and to reorient that energy toward
goodness, compassion and altruism.
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All religion has as its goal to foster human self-actualization. Some religious groups use fear
of punishment, divine and communal, as motivation. Other religious communities use spiritual
practices such as meditation to quiet the mind, still the passions and foster benevolence. The
various expressions of Judaism use both to varying degrees, with a particular emphasis on ritual
practices that have as their primary purpose to inspire us to a more spiritual way of being in the
world.
The sound of the shofar is a call to such personal transformation; repentance is the process of
recognizing and regretting mistakes and resolving to live more responsibly going forward.
The traditions of our culture teach important values. Chanukah teaches autonomy and
courage, and Passover teaches self-liberation and redemptiveness in society. Shabbat teaches
us to let go of our striving and competitiveness. Of course, the intention is the integration of this
learning and more spiritual way of being into our daily functioning all the time, not just on
Shabbat and holidays.
Unfortunately, people often get hung up on the minutia of observance or on reacting or
rebelling against it, or by giving lip service to it and lose the essential goal of self-actualization,
of personal transformation. That is how we end up with traditionalists and liberals in every
religion, yet risk losing the core meaning either way.
In our congregation we emphasize the spiritual growth of the individual, young and old,
learning from the ideas, the observances and the rich stories of Judaism, as well as from
interaction in our intimate community, all challenging us to transform ourselves and to grow into
the kindest, most loving and self-aware people we can be – making of life a sacred journey.
Most of us are not moved by the fear of punishment and expectation of external reward that
motivated people in earlier generations and still does in many quarters today.
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Another way to say this is that we emphasize intrinsic rather than extrinsic salvation; i.e.
developing ourselves spiritually and emotionally to be the best that we can become, without
expectation of divine reward but for what it would mean inherently to ourselves. We find
meaning, fulfillment and peace when we use our affiliation with this congregation as a means to
learn the values of Judaism, and to find the inspiration intended by the ritual practices,
regardless of our degree of observance. We value Jewish resources for accomplishing greater
personal wholeness and self-confidence and sensitivity to others. This happens in the context
of human relationships. As a small congregation, we can get to truly know, care about and
support one another.
That is my answer to why I am here and this is why I trust you are here, rather than any place
else.
For too many people attending services at the High Holidays has become like a busy young
adult who is married with children and comes back home to visit his or her parents for an
occasional short stay, but whose life is no longer focused there. A nostalgic feeling draws the
person home for a visit, but all that is of consequence is now elsewhere.
As I reflect on the discordance between the Jew of today and typical synagogue life in
America, I understand the rupture. I was raised and educated by people who were truly devout
and who took Judaism very seriously. Their day to day lives and institutional commitments were
in harmony. Free thinking Jews of today need a different approach if the synagogue is to be
relevant for them.
Let’s be honest. The preponderance of American Jews, and most of us, are really secular.
Very few of our people, and even of those affiliated with more traditional congregations, are
motivated to pray regularly.
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This year the Board and I have been exploring what kind of programing would best meet the
real needs and aspirations of our members. The program we will introduce this fall is intended to
be expressive of who we really are and to enable us to work toward further self-actualization, to
progress on our sacred life’s journey. Instead of a Shabbat service for the religious school at
6:10 on Friday evenings followed by a separate later adult service, we will have one service at
6:10 on Fridays when religious school is in session and everyone, parents and other adults who
do not have children in the school, is invited to attend that service, which will be focused on
learning spiritual values and celebrating our life together. The religious school students, the staff
and I look forward to welcoming friends of all ages from Kadima who will join with us as we
welcome Shabbat together. Of course, we will continue our monthly community Shabbat
dinners, which have been well attended and satisfying and enjoyable for many of us.
On Saturday mornings at 9:00 we are going to have a men’s group and a women’s group
meeting at the Kadima facility for an hour. We enjoy cordial relationships at Kadima, but these
groups are intended to provide an opportunity for knowing ourselves and one another more
deeply in a confidential setting, to provide support and encouragement and help us grow in our
ability to relate to others with empathy and kindness. Sometimes we will draw inspiration from
Jewish sources. We will learn to be more trusting, more open with our feelings in a sensitive
way and more autonomous with those present. We will then be able to take those strengths with
us into daily life. Carl Rogers, the famous psychological theorist, who is best known for his
emphasis on unconditional positive regard for all who came to him, wrote that he was always
impressed by the capacity people in groups showed for offering understanding, compassion and
new perspective to one another. I learned through my participation in such groups, when I was a
student, to be more confidant, more able to share my feelings and more able to trust and risk
deeper connection than when I had started. Mary will lead the women’s group and I the men’s
group, as we both have training and experience in leading such growth groups. The groups will
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also talk about social action projects open to the whole congregation that will further concretize
our growth in our concern for others.
I really believe that to be deserving of the name congregation we need to really know and be
known by one another.
At 10:00 there will be a one hour Shabbat observance focused almost exclusively on Torah
study and discussion, also centered on values clarification and personal growth.
I am really excited about this plan because I think it will attend to what is core, our making the
effort to be the best that we can be through focusing on the essential life enhancing ideals of
Judaism and through developing a deeper connection with one another, while leaving aside
almost everything superfluous to it. This is a somewhat radical paradigm shift for a synagogue,
but one that makes sense to me and our Board for meeting the deeper needs of our
congregants. I think all of us want authenticity; we want to walk our talk, so to speak, and to feel
that we belong to a real community of people who know, trust and care about one another and
who are concerned to facilitate their own and other’s development. Knowing who you are, I am
excited about what our members will bring to one another. I am concerned to grow to be the
best person that I can be. I want to focus on that challenge, and I hope you share in this
intention and that you will join in and become an active part, a companion traveler on this
sacred journey.
The theologian Frederick Buechner taught:
"You can survive on your own; you can grow strong on your own; you can prevail on your own;
but you cannot become human on your own."
Let us use our Judaism and our congregational community to become whom we have the
potential to be.
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