Larry:
My mom had just died in the first week of May in 2004. We were going through the apartment to decide
what to keep and what to discard. We
found, prominent on the dining room table, a legal tablet with a list of
organizations in which my Mom had participated over the years. She had decided to create the list because
she had attended funerals where the rabbis, when they delivered the
eulogy, didn’t seem to know the person
well at all and did not accurately portray the legacy of that loved one who had
died. I don’t know if Mom knew that
her sons would be delivering the eulogies at her funeral, but the list was
still very helpful to my brother Steve and me.
Rhonda: The other item we found was a small
note pad on which she had written a number of quotations about leadership. We believed that she had used some of those
statements when she led meetings as Sisterhood president between 1997 and
2001.
Larry: I was really taken by these pearls of
wisdom, enough that I still have in my possession the remnants of the note
pad. Here are some of the quotations she
had written down:
• Rhonda: Opportunities are
usually disguised as hard work, so most people don’t recognize them. (Ann Landers)
• Larry: No matter what
happens, keep on beginning and failing.
Each time you fail, start all over again, and you will grow stronger
until you find that you have accomplished a purpose – not the one you began
with perhaps, but one you will be glad to remember. (Anne Sullivan)
• Rhonda: I feel that the
greatest reward for doing is the opportunity to do more. (Jonas Salk)
• Larry: You may be
disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you do not try. (Beverly Sills)
• Rhonda:
The worst part of success is finding someone who is happy for you. (Bette
Midler)
• Larry: Success
is often achieved by those who don't know that failure is inevitable. (Coco
Chanel)
• Rhonda: The only way to
have a friend is to be one. (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
• Larry: What grows never
grows old. (Jewish author Noah benShea)
Rhonda: We have always considered this
collection from mom’s dining room table to be an important piece of her
legacy. Even though she didn’t write
these statements, we know that they had meaning for her as a volunteer, as a
leader, and as a mother and grandmother. That is one reason that her example
still serves us as an inspiration.
Larry: There
was one principle all her own that she stated more than once. She believed in perseverance. She stuck with positions in Sisterhood,
Hadassah and other organizations as long as she could. There were times when she felt things weren’t
working out and she was not appreciated for her service. When that happened, she simply found another
pursuit to which she could dedicate herself.
Still, she always came back to Temple.
The Sunday before she died, she had taken an active role in a major
community program at the congregation.
So that is one part of her legacy.
Rhonda: This morning, we will read from the Torah a
representation of another, more ancient legacy. In this case, it wasn’t found on a dining
room table.
Larry: In about 621 BCE, during the reign
of King Josiah, workers were repairing the Temple in Jerusalem, a project
enthusiastically supported by the King.
According to chapter 22 of the Book of Second Kings, the high priest
Hilkiah came to Shaphan, the King’s secretary and announced to him, “I have
found the book of the law - SEFER HA-TORAH - in the house of the Eternal!” The priest gave the book to the secretary,
who examined it and was concerned about what he read, as it told how the people
would go astray from their faith in God.
Hilkiah, Shaphan and other officials took the book to the legendary
prophetess Huldah. She read the book and
affirmed their concerns. She urged them
to present it to King Josiah. The
contents made the king realize that he had not done enough to keep the people
properly connected to God, to their faith and heritage, and to each other. He tore his clothes, and almost immediately
instituted reforms which would bring his people back to the essence of their
tradition.
Rhonda: The book that the High Priest
Hilkiah found, according to some biblical scholars, was some form of the Book
of Deuteronomy, from which we will read in a few moments.
If what had been discovered in the Temple
was a list of quotes, like we found on mom’s dining room table, it might have
said something like this:
• Larry: God is One - not
two or three - only One. Love God with
all your heart, soul and strength. Write
these words on the doorposts of your house and on your city gates. MOSES
• Rhonda: You are all
standing together, ready to enter the land that God has promised you. No matter what your position in the community
of Israel, you are equal when it comes to following God’s teachings. MOSES
• Larry: These laws are not
just for you, but for your children, your children’s children and all the
generations after you. Just imagine that
they are standing with you today, so that they will imagine that you are
standing with them many centuries into the future. MOSES
• Rhonda: These laws aren’t
so complicated. Read them. Study them. Do them. You can take them into your hearts and put
them into your own words. That is how
they will become yours. MOSES
• Larry: In any given
moment, life and good and death and evil will be set before you. It’s up to you to make the right choice. CHOOSE LIFE, because when you do, you will
also be standing on the side of love and respect. MOSES
Rhonda: Those statements are paraphrase
versions of statements contained in the Torah reading for this morning from
Deuteronomy Chapters 29 and 30.
The book of Deuteronomy is presented as if
it was the farewell address of Moses to the Israelites before they entered the
land of Canaan. It was his last chance
to point them in the right direction, not only in terms of geography, but, most
imporatant, in the realms of ethics and belief.
Larry: The story in the book of second Kings about
the priest discovering the book of Deuteronomy demonstrated the power of its
words. In the book THE SOURCE, author
James Michener portrayed Deuteronomy as central to the legacy of Judaism for
the last 2500 years, and even more.
Of
course, Deuteronomy may be closer to us on a daily basis than we might realize. The parchment in a Mezuzah in our doorways
includes not one but two quotes from Deuteronomy, both bearing the command to
“write them on the doorposts of your house.”
Rhonda: So what is the legacy that has been given
us? It is not only from the book of
Deuteronomy but also from the Haftarah in the book of Isaiah, Chapter 58 which
commanded the Israelites, and challenges us, to “break the bonds of
injustice...to let the oppressed go free and release all of those enslaved, to
share our bread with the hungry, and to never neglect the needs of our fellow
human beings.” If we performed those
deeds, Isaiah declared, “our light would burst forth like the dawn.”
Larry: As two Jewish communal professionals, we have
been making Judaism come to life for people of all ages for a good long
time. We have taught together in the
same Religious School since 1982. So
what would we write on a notepad that might be left on a dining room table, or
hidden in a Temple building for someone to find years later?
• Rhonda: Try to treat every
person, from birth through the most veteran members of a community, as
significant and as a precious human resource who has something to add and
teach.
• Larry: Rabbi Chanina said,
“I have learned much from my teachers and even more from my colleagues, but from
my students I have learned most of all.”
We are grateful for the lessons that our students of all ages have
taught us with wit, with emotion, and with their own special insight.
• Rhonda: Rabbi Tarfon said,
“LO ALECHA - It is not your duty to complete the work, but neither are you free
to neglect it.” Anything that we create
in a community bears the possibility of being only a beginning, with the
ultimate completion to come far in the future.
It is always up to us to nurture a new idea so that others can carry it
to fruition.
• Larry: We have two eyes,
two ears, and one mouth - to see the beauty of creation, to listen to creation,
and to praise creation. New Mexico, with
its mountains, beautiful sunsets, and rich history, is a feast for our senses.
• Rhonda:
Rabbi Shimon said, “there are three crowns: the crown of Torah, the crown of
priesthood, and the crown of kingship. And the crown of a good name is superior
to them all.” The crown of Torah is
about what we have learned. The crown of
priesthood is about how we infuse our special spirit into the life of our
community. The crown of kingship is
about how we lead based on ingenuity, integrity, creativity and fairness. The crown of a good name is what we create
for ourselves when we study, when we consider the meaning of our lives
together, and when we work as equal partners to realize our vision.
• Larry: When
I was in fifth grade in my Religious School, our teacher gave us an assignment
to interview someone in our family and someone outside our family to explain the
meaning of this famous statement by the sage Hillel in Pirkei Avot: If I am not
for myself, who will be for me? If I am
only for myself, what am I? And if not
now, when?
• Rhonda:
In the Pirkei Avot book that I (Rhonda) received for her confirmation, it
explains, “These precious gems of Hillel remind us of the duties of
self-preservation, self-cultivation and [they] warn us against being
self-centered and selfish, [cautioning us] against procrastination.”
• Larry: Hillel
also said: Do not separate yourself from the community. We need connection. We thrive on positive ties. How do we choose life as community members?
We study. We teach. We celebrate with each other. We mourn loved ones and friends. We laugh.
We discuss. We agree and we try
to respectfully disagree. We make
important decisions after careful consideration. We support each other through illness and
times of challenge. We try not to judge
each other, but, instead, offer to assist each other in self-improvement and in
making our community a place of comfort, growth, joy, encouragement, warmth,
friendship and even love.
• Rhonda:
Our participation in a community is a mitzvah that deserves – and has – its own
blessing. On Sunday mornings during Religious School, before we collect our Tzedakah
contributions, we recite this blessing that is appropriate for anything we do
to enhance community life:
ברוך אתה
ה’ אלהינו
מלך העולם’
אשר קדשנו במצוותיו וצוונו לעסוק בצרכי
הצבור
• Blessed
are You, Eternal, Our God, Ruler of the Universe, who makes us holy with
commandments and commanded us to occupy ourselves with the needs of
community.
• Larry: Courage is the
power to let go of the familiar. It’s
not about forgetting, but rather, it’s about reaching out with gusto to take
hold of new experiences and possibilities.
Rhonda: One of our favorite collections of Jewish
inspiration is Covenant of the Heart, published in 1993 by the Women of
Reform Judaism. The copy of the book
that we have has, inside the front cover the handwritten inscription: “From the
Library of Ruth Karol.” The reading
that we have copied for you today from that book is one that we have included
in many special services over the years.
We believe that it embodies the essence of Judaism and we offer this as a
central part of our legacy to Temple Beth-El and, by extension, the Jewish
people. And it is echoed by a
quote from the Talmud: “Kindness is the highest form of wisdom.” We read responsively:
Eternal God, who has given
us the privilege of choosing good over evil, grant us, we pray, one attribute
above all others - grant us kindness.
If we are kind, we cannot
do unto others that which we would not want done to us.
If we are kind, we cannot
be selfish and grasping, but must share our bounty with others; causing joys,
both great and small, by thoughtful deeds and gifts.
If we are kind, we cannot
dishonor our parents by harsh word or wicked deed.
If we are kind, we cannot
carry hurtful gossip to break another's heart, nor could we bear false witness
against our neighbors.
If we are kind, we cannot
take another's possessions for our own.
We cannot steal that which another holds dear and has labored to obtain.
If we are kind, we cannot
covet that which belongs to our neighbors, longing to deprive them of what is
theirs. Rather would we rejoice in their
good fortune.
If we are kind, above all,
we cannot kill - we cannot harm or hurt the weak, the poor, the young, the
old. We cannot cause a little child to
cry nor mistreat a helpless creature.
We cannot take pleasure in
the weeping of women nor the despair of men.
We cannot hate. We cannot
revile. We cannot ignore the needs of others.
And so we pray, O God: grant us kindness -
Your all-encompassing kindness.
