Walk with us - A meditation for moving from one day - and one year - to the next - December 29, 2022

The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah 

Overland Park, Kansas

Original Daily Minyan Meditation 

December 29, 2022

Eternal One, 

Creator of the Universe,

Our ever-present Companion and Support

From year to year, 

Walk with us as we move into this night

Towards a new day

That will present us with opportunities

For furthering our knowledge

For expanding our awareness of the world around us

For bringing healing to those who experience pain of body or soul

And for infusing our own special light

into the dark corners of existence. 

May we help members of the human community

Know connection rather than loneliness

Hope rather than despair

And Peace rather than unending conflict. 

Let the words of Your Torah suffuse our spirits 

With love of our neighbors, love of the stranger, 

And love for You, for it is by Your blessing

And within Your Oneness 

That You grant us life, 

Sustain us

And accompany us every night and day.

The Last Lights - December 26, 2022

THE LAST LIGHTS 

December 26, 2022

The last lights lingered

On our Chanukiot

As I extended the usual time of “beholding” them 

Until they concluded their central role 

In yet another celebration 

Of miracles ancient and modern. 

What did I hope to see reflected in 

the final flickering of our candles? 

I thought about the blessing of community 

That can bring such warmth. 

It can be elusive, at times, 

but if we persist in reaching out to others, 

Connections and caring will grow. 

I saw the promise of righteousness 

In the form of giving to people in need, 

Opening hearts and hands to the stranger, to the hungry, 

To the refugee and immigrant who see our land of freedom 

as a place that encourages aspiration, 

When it is all too often a society marked with division 

That prevents extending a deserving welcome 

To those who would honor us with their presence, their energy, 

And their willing participation. 

I discerned the potential for love 

that could overcome hatreds and prejudices

That are often exacerbated and spread by rumor and innuendo 

Focusing on the ways in which people are different 

in appearance, belief or identity, 

Establishing limited and narrow standards 

for the few, the “elect,” who can share in their vision of salvation, 

Rather than imagining a pliable, flexible circle of acceptance of many

Based on the recognition of the common essence of humanity 

That each of us carries within our souls.   

I discovered a glimmer of a possibility for peace and cooperation 

Even in places where an unbridled desire for control and power 

Undermines a refined sense of reason and reality 

Leading to a denial that the tragic losses and collateral damage of war and conflict 

Are the consequence of a loss of compassion 

And a refusal to admit

that the position of the perceived adversary 

Might have some validity and value 

And could contain seeds for resolution. 

The lights extinguished themselves 

Once again 

But Chanukah demands of us

To rededicate ourselves to 

Community 

Righteousness

Giving

Love

Acceptance

Equality 

Unity. 

And peace.

This is what I will carry with me 

Into the days to come.

How do you know that I am darkness? - December 8, 2022

Wow. 

Apparently, I am darkness.

How do you know that I am darkness?

When have I ever tried to stop you from practicing Judaism in your way? 

Is my existence so unacceptable to you that you would deny my humanity? 

My relatives who may come closer to your practice do not call me darkness.

They may think I am a bit misguided, but they accept me as a person and a member of the family. 

And they even listen to my music that features Hebrew and English. 

What is dark about me? 

I believe I know. 

You are afraid of the darkness that has another name. 

Doubt. 

Doubt might lead you to think there is another way to practice your tradition, but, of course, you can’t believe that, because you might believe that the entire structure and edifice of your religious life would come tumbling down if you acknowledge that I might be carrying on our heritage in some way, that  God might be hearing my prayers, and that my practice of Jewish tenets might have value. 

“Love your neighbor as yourself,” practiced broadly, is not darkness. 

“All are created in the divine image,” applied to all people, is not darkness. 

“Love the stranger because you were strangers in Egypt” is not darkness. 

And prayer that include brings all people together in one space, with no separation, no mechitzah, is not darkness.   

If you are going to say that ways of believing that you oppose are “darkness,” then please explain the light that you bring, and please tell me how a God who, the Talmud says, prays that the divine attribute of mercy will override the attribute of strict justice, would not find light in every human being seeking to sincerely treat other human beings, all creatures, and the world, with dignity.   

    Where do you, Mr. human judge of darkness, find light? 

     That is what I want to know.

Encompass us with hope, light and love - Daily Minyan reading - December 6, 2022

Original reading for 

The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah 

Daily Minyan

December 6, 2022

Light to darkness

Darkness to light

That is the cycle of the day 

which You have decreed for us,

Eternal Creator,

As our world moves through this vast universe.

You inspire us to shed light even in darkness.

You teach us to shine the brightness of our souls

Towards our brothers and sisters 

for whom hope is eclipsed by gloom and despair.

There is love embedded in creation

 that You have enabled us 

to sense and feel and share 

Whenever our eyes and hearts are open

To Your enduring presence 

And to the Oneness that binds us together. 

Encompass us always 

With that hope, that light, and that love.

Searching for a new song of joy and justice - A meditation on Psalm 33 - December 5, 2022

Rejoice in the Eternal One, O doers of justice!
To those who are upright, praise is becoming. 

Pluck a thankful song to God on your lyre, 

Let your ten-string sing out to the Eternal One!
Sing a song to God so it will sound brand new.

Play sweetly with shouts of joy!

For the word of the Eternal One is upright

All Your deeds reveal Your faithfulness. 

You love righteousness and justice. 

Your love and care fill all the earth.  

(Psalm 33:1-5)

What if 

There are people who say they are upright 

Who seek to subvert human decency?

What if there are individuals charged with justice

Who allow for bigotry, hatred and prejudice to thrive? 

What if there are leaders who proclaim that they are righteous 

All the while drawing a circle of acceptance and salvation

That promotes exclusion and intolerance 

Asserting that their attitudes and policies that lead to oppression 

spring from their self-claimed correct understanding of holy texts

Which they would seek to impose on others?  

Do they sing a thankful song 

when they seek to deny respect to fellow human beings? 

Do they believe that God is on their side 

So that their declarations of triumph can be considered

To constitute praise of their Creator? 

Do they rejoice in their judgments that deprive individuals of rights previously granted? 

There are other doers of justice who continue to stand for 

Equality and opportunity 

There are promoters of love and care who offer support and hope.

There are those who measure righteousness 

Based on kindness and empathy bestowed 

That bring comfort and contentment

So that people who benefit from that right action 

will know light in the face of darkness. 

The depth of the moral night that seems, at times, overwhelming, Has the potential to prevent the righteous 

from finding the words and the melody 

That could fashion a new song of joy

And infuse it into the world. 

May the One who looks down on this earth 

A beautiful blue oasis in the blackness of space

Send into the universe

The lyrics and the tune

That will warm our hearts 

And sustain us in our search for sweet moments

Amid the miracles of our lives. 

************************************

Translation: 

After Rabbi Richard Levy’s Songs Ascending: The Book of Psalms,  A New Translation, CCAR Press, 2017; and Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures: The New Jewish Publication Society translation according to the traditional Hebrew text; JPS, 1985).