Rabbi's Message at Annual Meeting of Temple Beth-El, Las Cruces, New Mexico - May 10, 2016

      When I think about congregational life, there is always one set of statements to which I return from the Sayings of the Rabbis, Pirkei Avot.  In Pirket Avot, Chapter 1, Saying 6, Rabbi Joshua ben Perachyah who lived in the Second Century BCE declared: 

ASEI L’CHA RAV – Find for yourself a RAV – a rabbi or a teacher. 

U-K’NEI L’CHA CHAVER – acquire for yourself a friend, companion or a partner for study.

VE-HEVEI DAN ET KOL ADAM L’CHAF Z’CHUT – and judge everyone favorably, towards their merit OR give everyone the benefit of the doubt.  

The first two statements of this three part quote sound like they are appropriately paired one to the other. One is about finding someone who knows more than we know from whom we can learn.   The second declares that we should find a peer, an equal with whom to study after sitting at the feet of our chosen RAV.   It may be that ASEI L’CHA RAV doesn’t just mean to find a teacher.  It may challenge each of us to turn ourselves into teachers.  Through our accumulated wisdom and experience, we can all be dedicated and knowledgeable educators and mentors.   Rabbi Joshua, if he were here, would urge us to take the time and energy to make that happen: to be teachers and guides who show care and patience to those we hope to train as leaders through refining skills and sharing new insights. 

    The word CHAVER in modern Hebrew means more than being a colleague, peer or study partner.   Its primary meaning is now "friend."  That notion of friendship in Judaism still comes from the relationship of two people who learn together, side-by-side, or from the teacher-student connection.

    In a story from the Chasidic tradition, a student once professed his love for his rabbi, to which the rabbi responded, "Do you know what hurts me?" The student, confused by the response, said, "My teacher, I said that I love you! Why do I need to have any idea about what hurts you?" The rabbi responded, "If you do not know what hurts me, then how can you say you love me?"             

    Being a CHAVER in a fellowship of study and communal activity in a Jewish context ideally means developing and sustaining a deep friendship and partnership, where two people not only learn and grow alongside each other, but care about each other as human beings.  And it can apply, just as much, to congregants who work together and Temple leaders who make decisions in concert with one another, combining the best of their knowledge to take the congregation forward with a sense of meaning, vision and purpose.  

So what about that third part of the saying?  

“DAN ET KOL ADAM L’CHAF Z’CHUT.  Literally, it means, “judge each person according to his or her merits or good points.” Working and learning in close quarters with friends and colleagues might create moments where our impatience can get the better of us.   Rabbi Joshua was telling us something that we have likely learned time and again in our own lives.  Sometimes we just want other people to accentuate our positive traits when they think about their partnership or friendship with us.   And if we want other people to do that for us, we need to reciprocate in kind.   For the rabbis, that was the key to sustaining relationships within a community. Always tipping our view of people with whom we serve towards the positive side will make any institution or organization to which we belong, including Temple Beth-El, warmer and stronger.  

    This saying of Rabbi Joshua Ben Perachyah is echoed in the new Temple mission statement, which brings us together under this expression of guiding principles: “We strive to be a place where spiritual growth, tradition and ritual provide meaning and comfort to every person who comes through our doors. Temple Beth-El encourages its members to learn, celebrate, serve, and grow together, so that each person will have the fullest opportunity to share the beauty of Jewish expression.”   

   This mission statement embodies the first two parts of Rabbi Joshua's teaching by noting that, at Temple Beth-El, we “learn celebrate, serve and grow together” to seek "meaning" and "comfort." Hopefully, it is not only ritual, tradition and individual spiritual growth that provide each of us with meaning and comfort.  Rabbi Joshua would remind us that it is our partnership and engagement with each other that offers us meaning through the relationships we create and maintain, and comfort through the ways in which we can, should and hopefully do reach out to one another.   A recent article about congregational life described congregations as having the potential to be based either on gratitude for each other, including the clergy person, or on critical and harsh judgment of one another.  In congregations and in any organization, no one is perfect.  No one can do everything, not a lay leader, not a clergy person.   Giving each other the benefit of the doubt means looking at what someone has done over the course of days, months and years.  And if it seems that something that needs to get done is falling by the wayside, rather than offering criticism, it may be a time to reach out a helping hand in patience and genuine camaraderie.   When we see each other as part of the whole who can lift up one another towards communal growth and achievement in the most cheerful, enthusiastic and positive way, there is nothing we can’t make happen. 

    So look at the listing of Temple programs and you will see the blessings that our partnership brings us.  Worship, study, opportunities to socialize, giving back to the community, and hosting our neighbors for our amazing and wildly successful Jewish Food and Folk Festival show what we can do when we are partners, colleagues and friends who work together for the betterment of our Temple and of Las Cruces.    There are many areas in which we can improve and refine how we do what we do in order to be more caring, more open, more welcoming, more inclusive, and more thoughtful. We have established strong foundations in all of those areas upon which we can build to make our congregation a place that reflects the best of the Jewish heritage and spirit. 

    Last August, the bombs that exploded at two local congregations placed everyone on alert.   Even while I was away at a convention that weekend, I still received the news about what happened, and coordinated with local and Temple leaders to open up our Shabbat service that Friday night to the general community.   We had an increased attendance that evening, with guests from a variety of faith groups joining us in our worship.  Without changing the language of our prayers, our service was able to touch our neighbors in a way that they had not expected.    That is the power of what we have as Jews, and that is a gift we can continue to share in many ways with others, and, mainly, with each other within these walls. 

    My deepest gratitude goes to Monika Kimball, the Temple Board, to committee chairs and members, the Golf Tournament committee and participants, Sisterhood, Mensch Club, BETY, Religious school faculty, students, study group participants, singers and musicians of all ages, and all who give to Temple something special from their own essence.  To our newly formalized colleagues in the Jewish Federation of Greater El Paso, we welcome this strengthened connection that will broaden horizons and enhance access to resources and energy for all of us.    To Rhonda, and to Adam and Juli, thank you for being my ever present support, sounding board, purveyors of great wisdom, and cheerleaders, all based in the love of family.  

   On the major festivals, we add a prayer to our service that asks for crops to grow and for the rains to fall to make that happen.  In Temple life, we are the ones who provide nourishment for the congregation to help it grow through our commitment and dedication.   Our ideas, our energy, and our good work nurtures Temple Beth-El into a community that can enrich our lives, individually and together.   So may this holiday blessing for natural growth now lead us towards new vistas in the future that lies before us:

L’vrachah v’lo lik’lalah.

L’chayim v’lo l’mavet

L’sova v’lo l’razon.  

For blessing and not for curse. 

For life and not for death. 

For abundance, and not for want.

May God continue to establish the work of our hands and the gifts that come from our hearts as teachers, mentors, colleagues, and friends who will strive to bring one another meaning and comfort to help make our lives complete.    

  

Invocation - Temple Beth-El Las Cruces, NM Annual Meeting - May 10, 2016

Ashreinu!  How happy we are!

Mah Tov chelkeinu!  How good is our portion

U-mah naim goraleinu.  How pleasant our lot

U-mah Yafah Yerushateinu - How beautiful our heritage!

Eternal God, you have given us the ability

To see what is joyous and sweet in our midst

To sense the ways in which we bring blessing to one another and to ourselves.

You have been with us every step of the way

As we observed holidays and marked life milestones

When we planted trees and set in place bricks of remembrance and tribute

When we lit candles on our chanukiot alongside our mayor

When we joined together as members to celebrate who we are for no reason other than to add joy to the moment

When we opened our doors to a community that seeks from us new knowledge, and, every so often, a savory bite from a pastrami sandwich

Source of wisdom, you have inspired our discussions of sacred texts and conversations on short stories and books that express the essence of who we are. 

Wellspring of holiness, you have brought us together for the solemn burial of worn sacred books and the dedication of this space to the memory of builders of this congregation

Loving Creator, you have opened our minds and hearts to share the love of our heritage with a new generation, finding a renewed commitment in ourselves as our youth declare their coming of age in the context of Jewish life

God of Righteousness, You have taught us to open our hands to neighbors in need, and to consider ways in which we can offer assistance to the destitute, the poor, the homeless,  turning hopelessness into a glimpse of a glimmer of optimism

You have gifted us with creativity to generate new ideas, and to appreciate the beauty expressed in art and in song, and in the wonder embodied in the natural setting that surrounds us

Mah Rabu maasecha Adonai

How great are your works, Eternal One,

And how privileged we are to be Your partners in sustaining creation

Through our work together in this congregation and community

And in the beliefs and values we convey through our actions

Every single day of our lives. 

Be with us at every turn, O God,

In every holy, amazing moment.  

Amen. 

Goodness, sweetness and light - D'var Torah for Temple Beth-El Board Meeting - April 28, 2016

In the book of Isaiah, Chapter 5, the prophet presents a series of complaints and challenges to his people in Judah and Jerusalem.   

In the middle of his pronouncements, he declares

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil.

Who present darkness as light, and light as darkness;

Who present bitter as sweet and sweet as bitter. 

Woe to those who feel they are so wise in their own opinion

So clever in their own judgment. 

     As we discussed this passage in Tanakh study on Wednesday, the first word that I mentioned in connection with these verses was "spin."  

In this passage, Isaiah noted how many of his people were turning from God's teachings, which were supposed to guide their actions. 

So a God that didn't act with the promptness that these skeptics expected was seen as uncaring. 

     Those who tried to emulate God's mercy in their behavior were viewed as weak. 

     Those who neglected the care of those in their society who needed help and support were seen as acting appropriately, even when the rules of their heritage called on them to extend their hands with generosity. 

     This week, in preparation for the Annual Meeting, I compiled a list of Temple events and programs that were held throughout the year.   It is a list that is rich in its substance.  It demonstrates the result of dedication, commitment, partnership and teamwork.   It reflects an openness of the congregation not only to members, providing moments of celebration, but also to the greater community, offering opportunities to be enlightened by new ideas and entertained by the wealth of culture embodied in our locale and by visitors to our city.   

     The question is, how will members of Temple Beth-El consider such a list? Will credit be given for our successes?  Will we learn from challenges we encountered?   Will we encourage positive partnership and teamwork at all levels of leadership and participation, which most congregations would only call good, and sweet, and reflective of the light of our heritage?  

     How we view what we do and how we do it is up to us as leaders and as members of this community.   May Isaiah's words lead us to open our hearts to the needs of one another and continue to make Temple Beth-El a place of goodness, sweetness, light and blessing.   

"Learning from the Holocaust: Acts of Courage" - Remarks at White Sands Missile Range Days of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust program on April 15, 2016

Well before my wife Rhonda and son Adam and I first visited the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum 16 years ago, we were very familiar with many of the stories of the Shoah. The Nazi Holocaust  was perpetrated against Jews along with atrocities committed against people throughout Europe whom the Nazis deemed undeserving to live because of who they were or what they believed.   We found several exhibits at the Holocaust Museum to be more striking and poignant than the others, including the collection of shoes from the victims, a high column of photos of families in which all members had likely died, and the photos of Allied soldiers entering the camps as World War II neared its end.    I don't think I have ever been to a place in the United States where such a feeling of solemnity and sadness came over me.  And that feeling was only matched by my two visits to Yad Vashem, Israel's memorial to the holocaust in Jerusalem. 

   One of the first items we saw when we walked into the Holocaust Memorial Museum was the IBM Hollerith punch card machine used by the Nazis to catalog the names of people, especially Jews, whom they deported.  That early piece of computer technology made it all too easy for the Third Reich to send many eventual victims to concentration and extermination camps.   Our visit to the museum came only months after the chaos that was anticipated with coming of Y2K, the change from 1999 to 2000.  Many of us thought the arrival of the new millenium would wipe out our computer hard drives due to an unanticipated glitch.   A patch that was provided to users supposedly saved the whole world from technological ruin.   Would that it would have been so simple for someone at one of IBM's European subsidiaries to have said "no" to the Third Reich, when they asked for the Hollerith technology. 

    Over the years, I have had the opportunity to hear a number of well-known Holocaust survivors speak.  One was Gerda Weissman Klein, the subject of the Oscar winning documentary, One Survivor Remembers."  That film was based on her now classic book, "All But My Life."   When Gerda Klein ascended the stage to receive the Academy Award in 1996 for that film, she would not leave when the music began to signal her to exit.  Instead, she remained at the podium to deliver her all-important message:  "I have been in a place for six incredible years, where winning meant a crust of bread and to live another day. Since the blessed day of my liberation I have asked the question, ‘Why am I here? I am no better.’ In my mind’s eye I see those years and faces of those who never lived to see the magic of a boring evening at home. On their behalf I wish to thank you for honoring their memory, and you cannot do that in a better way than when you return to your homes tonight to realize that each of you who knows the joy of freedom is a winner. On their behalf I wish to thank you with all my heart."  I believe that what Gerda Klein did that night took courage.  She knew that everyone present and everyone watching needed to hear what she had to say out of the depths of her experiences and her heart. 

   Holocaust survivor and author Elie Wiesel waited 15 years before he told his personal story of surviving the Holocaust in his book, "Night," published in 1960.   I heard Wiesel speak several times in person over the years.  His speech that most impressed me was the one he delivered on April 22, 1993 at the opening of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.  This is part of the message he offered that day:  "We believe in the absolute necessity to communicate a tale. We know we cannot, we never will, explain...It is not because I cannot explain that you won’t understand, it is because you won’t understand that I cannot explain. How can one understand that human beings could choose such inhumanity? How can one understand that in spite of everything there was goodness in those times, in individuals? There were good people even in occupied countries, and there was kindness and tenderness and love inside the camps among the victims.   What have we learned? We have learned some lessons, minor lessons, perhaps, that we are all responsible, and indifference is a sin and a punishment. And we have learned that when people suffer we cannot remain indifferent."

     The statements by Gerda Klein and Elie Wiesel both resonate with this year's theme for Holocaust Remembrance:  "Learning from the Holocaust: Acts of Courage."   It took courage to show kindness and tenderness in the camps and to be a good and decent  person in occupied countries.   It took courage to defy the unbridled evil that was all around in Nazi-controlled Europe.   It took too many years for those stories to emerge, but they did come out in many forms.   And it takes courage to share stories of heroism that people may not want to hear or that they know but prefer to forget.  Children in schools are reading Gerda Klein's book, "All But My Life."  They are reading NUMBER THE STARS, by Lois Lowry, which recounts the rescue of most of the Jews of Denmark by their fellow Danish citizens, who sent the Jews on boats to Sweden in a matter of a short few days.    Perhaps the most widely read book in schools has been THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK.   It was well after the diary was published  that we learned more extensively about the great work of those who cared for Anne Frank, her family and the others hiding in the Secret Annex.   The strong business relationship and friendship between Otto Frank and Miep Gies led Miep to put her life in danger to keep her friends hidden.   She was recognized for her bravery and her caring by Israel, Germany and the Netherlands in the 1990s. 

     During my years as a rabbi in Topeka, Kansas, I served on the Kansas State Holocaust Commission.    We sponsored a screening in 1993 at a local movie theater of the newly-released  Schindler's List to which state legislators and employees were invited.      In making that film, just after finishing his masterpiece Jurassic Park, Steven Spielberg took his own courageous step to present a lasting chronicle of one man's central and personal shining moment that stood out in his life.  Oskar Schindler didn't intend to be a rescuer, but circumstances put him in a position to save the lives of 1000 Jews who would have died otherwise.   One of the most meaningful scenes in the film depicted hundreds of descendants of the SCHINDLER JUDEN, the Jews protected by Schindler, walking together in Israel.  Spielberg's desire to tell the stories of survivors did not end with his Oscar winning film.  The year after its release, he founded the Survivors of the Shoah Foundation. This organization is still working to create a visual and oral history of the testimony of survivors that will be accessible for generations to come.  

     Sometimes, the preservation of stories of heroism from the Holocaust comes from what may seem to be unlikely sources.  17 years ago, three students at a high school in a small town in southeastern Kansas were choosing a theme for their group entry in the National History Day annual competition.  In 1999, the national theme was "Turning Points in History." While sifting through materials to find a subject, Uniontown, Kansas high school student Liz Cambers discovered this paragraph from a 1994 article in US News and World Report that was entitled "The Other Schindlers": 

“POLAND: IRENA SENDLER, SOCIAL WORKER

She gave nearly 2,500 children new identities, and buried their real names for safekeeping.

When Hitler built the Warsaw Ghetto in 1940 and herded 500,000 Polish Jews behind its walls to await liquidation, most Polish gentiles turned their backs or applauded. Not Irena Sendler. A Warsaw social worker, Sendler wangled a permit to enter the teeming ghetto and check for signs of typhus, something the Nazis feared would spread beyond the ghetto.   Shocked by what she saw, Sendler joined Zegota, a tiny underground cell dedicated to helping Jews, and she took on the code name “Jolanta.” The deportations had already begun, and although it was impossible to save adults, Sendler began smuggling children out in an ambulance. “Can you guarantee they will live?” Sendler recalls the distraught parents asking. But she could only guarantee they would die if they stayed. “In my dreams,” she says, “I still hear the cries when they left their parents.”

Sendler successfully smuggled almost 2,500 Jewish children to safety and gave them temporary new identities. To remember who was who, she wrote the real names on sheets of paper, burying them in jars in her garden. Finding Christians to hide them was not easy.  "There weren’t many Poles who wanted to help Jews, [even] children.” But Sendler organized a network of families and convents ready to give sanctuary."

Liz Cambers read that description and wondered why Irena Sendler was not better known.  This Polish Social Worker had obviously risked her life every time she took a child from the Warsaw Ghetto to safety in a new home.  Liz and her project partners, Megan Stewart and Sabrina Coons, set out to discover what made Irena Sendler perform these many courageous acts. They were supported all along by their teacher, Norm Conard, who encouraged them to dig deep into this tale.   The Jewish Foundation for the Righteous gave the students more important information as they gradually developed their performance piece for History Day entitled "Life in a Jar."  Just before the Kansas state competition, they received a crucial piece of information, some these girls didn't yet know.  Irena Sendler was still alive and living in Warsaw.    After Liz, Megan and Sabrina had presented "Life in a Jar" in and around Kansas and Missouri, a benefactor made it possible for the girls to visit Warsaw and to meet Irena Sendler in person.   They developed a close relationship, like family, over the course of the coming years until Irena's death in 2008.                 

      Irena Sendler's rescue of 2500 children from the Warsaw Ghetto was not well known because of politics.   The Communist government of Postwar Poland saw the members of Zegota and other resistance groups as fascists and anti-Communists. They were not to be considered heroes even though they acted with such great courage. Their stories would not be told to the populace.   It took three girls from Uniontown, Kansas and their supportive teacher to make the name of Irena Sendler known to the world.   In the first letter she wrote to the "Life in a Jar" history project team, Irena Sendler explained what moved her to perform the acts of courage for which she became known.  "“Despite the fact that in the world history there have been cases of oppression of Jews, there has not been a country whose agenda would be the extermination of the entire nation.   For that reason your work has a great value for the world. These monstrous crimes/atrocities cannot be repeated!    My parents taught me that if someone is drowning, one always needs to/should give a helping hand/rescue them. During the war the entire Polish nation was drowning but the most tragically drowning were Jews. For that reason, helping those who were most oppressed was the need of my heart.”

In 2003, Irena was recognized with the American Center of Polish Culture's award for valor and compassion.   Irena's statement on receiving the award was read by the First Lady of Poland at the ceremony.  She said at that time, " “This award is not for me only. I accept it on behalf of all those who helped me. I am the only one left. There were so many Jewish resistance fighters, not only the ones with guns and Molotov cocktails, but those who ran the House Committees and Youth Circles and kept hope and civility alive, especially for the young people. So many agreed to take in the children – at risk of death.

You award me because I am one of the few remaining to bear witness. But I tell you, I only did what any decent person would do in such horrible times.  I do not consider myself a hero. The true heroes were the mothers and fathers who gave me their children. I only did what my heart commanded. A hero is someone doing extraordinary things. What I did was not extraordinary. It was a normal thing to do. I was just being decent.”    A Hallmark Hall of Fame movie, "The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler," would likely not have been made were it not for the determination of Liz, Megan and Sabrina in reminding the world of Irena's amazing work of human concern and kindness. 

      There are many other stories of individuals whose acts of courage stand out from that dark time. There were diplomats from various countries who  could not stand to see the Third Reich rob so many people of their dignity and their very lives.   Raoul Wallenberg saved tens of thousands of Jews and others while serving as a Swedish diplomat in Budapest, Hungary in 1944.   Dr. Feng Shan Ho, who served as Chinese Consul General in Vienna in 1938-1940, facilitated the safe departure of thousands of Jews from Europe to Shanghai even when his superiors told him to stop.  Chiune Sugihara was a Japanese diplomat stationed in Kovno, Lithuania.  He disobeyed his government's orders and issued visas that allowed thousands of Jews to escape from Nazi-occupied Europe via Japan.  After doing such amazing work, Wallenberg was arrested and likely ended up in the system of Soviet prisons.  He is thought to have died there in 1947.   Both Ho and Sugihara were forced to resign their posts by their home governments, but their persistence and bravery made a lasting impact on the lives they were able to save.  

     All of these examples of simply doing the right thing, being decent people, seeing all human beings as worthy of respect, have the power to continue to inspire us today.   At Temple Beth-El in Las Cruces, we recently received a letter from a 6th grade teacher at a school in Cairo, Illinois.  The teacher, Mrs. Mary Beth Goff, noted that Cairo has a history of decline and racial tension.  The school where she teaches is 98% African American and has a free lunch rate of 100%.  Mrs. Goff is trying to get the students to think beyond themselves.  They were inspired by the story of students at a school in Whitwell, Tennessee who collected 6 million paper clips to create a Holocaust memorial.   Mrs. Goff's students decided to focus on the 1.5 million children who died in the Holocaust.  They are asking people from around the country and the world to send a penny for each child victim as part of this project, called Pennies As Promise.  One of our Religious School classes at Temple responded to their request and wrote letters of encouragement.  Here is a text of a letter from one of our Temple fifth graders:  "Thank you for caring about the Holocaust and Jewish history.  We will gladly send you as many pennies as you need.  The Holocaust was a sad and miserable time - families lost all their belongings, memories, and courage.  Some people lost all hope, but some kept fighting for freedom.  I hope your project works."  

    There is always an even greater project at work  - living in this world; building, making and preserving peace; assuring that people of all ages all over the world have all that they need; and turning conflict and hatred into cooperation, partnership and love.   It takes courage to attempt to reach those goals, because too many people think only about their own needs.   These words of the great Rabbi Hillel can direct us to do good and courageous work in our own time: "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?"  The time is now to be courageous, to overcome fear and to restore respect and hope for the entire human family.  May we succeed in our efforts because it is a need of our hearts - and so may our hearts guide us.  

Old Rules, New Rules - Seeking Holiness Then and Now - Meditation for Parashat Tazria - April 8, 2016

Eternal One, Creator and Sustainer of us all,

On this Sabbath that marks the beginning of a new month,

The month called "the beginning of months" in Exodus Chapter 12, 

We recall the commands to the Israelites, still in Egypt, to prepare for their first Passover.  

The Torah notes that those instructions were given to them while they were still slaves in anticipation of their coming freedom.

It took a special type of faith to even consider the possibility of celebration at that time, an optimism that years of bondage would finally end.

And so they did.

Those old rules are ever new for us.

The way that we mark Passover has changed over these many centuries.

We still fight for those who are oppressed and consider bringing freedom to those who are not yet free,

And, in any way we can, we seek to provide all members of the human family an opportunity to taste liberty that they may have never experienced.

In the Torah reading for this week in Leviticus Chapter 13, 

We learn that the Israelite priests assumed a special role in

Identifying maladies that appeared on the skin of community members.

Their diagnosis was not in the realm of medicine, but of spiritual purity. 

There were cases in which purity was not restored.

Yet, the intention of their prescriptions for quarantine and treatment was to preserve the place of each person in the community

Even when they were facing this challenge of illness

When they needed to know that separation did not mean lack of caring and concern.

The goal was to make them spiritually pure again, if at all possible.

When we read a section such as this in the Torah,

We may see ourselves focusing on its tendency to draw distinct lines between the clean and unclean

The pure and impure. 

There are situations which may demand of us to make such a stark identification.

But we know, God our Healer and Source of wisdom,

That life usually isn’t like that.

Perfection is, for us, a goal that only rarely achieve.

Purity is admirable.

Cleanliness may be next to godliness.

Striving for perfection is what we could call  human.

Attempting to be sure that the motives for our actions are pure is human.

Doing all we can to assure that what we do is drenched in goodness, kindness, respect, and concern for the well-being of the community is human and, even more, it is a way we strive to be godly – to be like You.

So help us, God, to provide a way back

To people whom society does not understand but are in need of support

To those in need of forgiveness

To those who are objects of hatred

To those who face oppression

To those who have been ostracized for their good intentions

To those who want to change.  

May we be like the ancient priests

Who had the responsibility to say TAMEI – impure or TAHOR –clean

But in our minds and hearts

May we be guided by your love and your compassion

So that our eyes and our perspective are directed by the knowledge

Of what it means to be human

to ever strive for the highest potential that we can muster

in all we do and in who we are.

May these ancient rules inspire us anew

To bring Your holiness into the world

As long as we live.

 

 

"You Know the Feelings of the Stranger" - Article for Temple Beth-El Las Cruces Adelante Newsletter - April 2016

 "Do not oppress the stranger, for you know the feelings of the stranger, having yourselves been strangers in the land of Egypt." (Exodus 23:9)

     "You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him/her, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt." (Exodus 22:21)

   "When a stranger lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him/her. The stranger living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him/her as yourself, for you were strangers in Egypt. I am the Eternal One, your God."  (Leviticus 19:33-34)

    "In every generation, we should see ourselves as if we went free from Egypt." (Passover Haggadah)

    Passover is coming once again.   Along with members of Jewish communities all over the world, we will prepare and join together for Passover Seders.   Many will change their diet for the week, choosing their own ways in which to fulfill the command to refrain from eating leavened foods as a way of remembering an ancient flight to freedom.  Some will invite friends and neighbors who are not part of the Jewish community as guests to the Seder as a way of sharing a time-honored Jewish tradition, while performing the mitzvah of hachnasat orchim, welcoming guests/hospitality.   When our own Passover table reflects the diversity of the greater community, it offers us an opportunity to spread the message of liberation and liberty. 

     The central value of Passover, overcoming oppressors and oppression, is embodied in the very observance of the Seder.  By remembering that "we were slaves," and declaring that, "now we are free," we are called upon to look out to the human community, in the here and now, and to make a difference in the ongoing struggle for freedom.

    This message of Passover is based upon statements in the Torah about how we are to view the most vulnerable members of society because “we were slaves.”  To know and relate to the feelings of another person is a call to show mercy and compassion to someone in need without judging or dismissing that person's predicament.  These teachings about showing empathy towards individuals in dire straits direct us to refrain from viewing other members of society with disdain, arrogance, prejudice, or hatred.   

    Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks has cited a passage from Deuteronomy (Chapter 10, verses 16 through 19) to strengthen this ancient reminder of how God wants us to reach out to others with generosity and mercy “because we were slaves”:  "Cut away, therefore, the thickening about your hearts and stiffen your necks no more.  For the Eternal your God is God supreme and Lord supreme, the great, mighty and awesome God, who shows no favor and takes no bribe, but upholds the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and befriends the stranger, providing food and clothing.  You too must befriend the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt." 

    Each of us may choose, if we wish, to combat all types of  oppression that surround us and to alleviate suffering.  We may devote ourselves to opposing anti-Semitism and other expressions of bigotry directed towards particular groups of people.   We may pursue a variety of strategies to stand up to bullying or abuse of power in all sorts of contexts.   We may donate food and clothing for people in need through local agencies in which congregants already participate.   We may work for equality and fairness locally and throughout the world. We may consider avenues to assist people fleeing from oppression and violence. We may simply sit and listen to stories of people inside and outside our community to broaden our own body of knowledge and awareness of the wide range of possibilities for how we can live our lives and how we can deal with challenges and celebrate the joys that come our way.  

    As we sit down at our Seder tables, may we give thanks for what we have and identify the messages and values we can share with the greater community and with the world.  By seeing ourselves as having been freed from slavery, the lessons we learn from this festival can enable us to move into the future with confidence, compassion, resolve, and hope.  

A prayer for united hearts - and people (after the Brussels bombing and other violent attacks) - March 25, 2016

Eternal One,

We have again witnessed

More than once in recent days,

A deliberate attempt to sow chaos

Through murder based in an ideology

That craves power

and commits acts of murder and destruction

in Your name.

There are many, many people

Who believe in You

Who don’t seek the disorder and conflict

Which could shape the world with one particular belief

As acceptable

While others are “tolerated” or begrudged their very existence.

Many people who call on You as a gracious, compassionate and merciful

Creator, Healer, Comforter, teacher and guide

See you as a beacon of light

Against the darkness of violent attacks

That do no honor to Your name.

Help us, Source of Hope and author of freedom,

To enable people to create on earth

The oneness that You represent for us,

a sense of unity will seep into the hearts

Of every human being

So that even the notion of taking a life in order to foment fear

Would be unthinkable and unimaginable.

Bring us together, in our own community, and all over the world,

So that voices that preach the language of division, prejudice,

And hatred will not prevail.

Lead us to a time and place

When and where the contributions of our minds and hearts

Will engender worldwide respect, understanding and peace

So that who we are will fully reflect who You are.

V’yached l’vaveinu l’ahavah u-l’yir’ah et sh’mecha.

Unite our hearts – the hearts of all - to love and revere Your name.

Amen.