Shehecheyanu V’kiy’manu V’higiyanu lazman hazeh.
Blessed are You, Eternal One, our God, Ruler of the
Universe, who has kept us alive, sustained us, and brought us to this
time.
I know
that’s a prayer that we usually say when we’re starting something new. I do think we understand that
every ending is also a new beginning.
We will demonstrate that with this meeting tonight which gives us a
chance to look back and to look forward as well.
This is
my third annual message at Temple Beth-El, and my 30th since I
became the rabbi at my own congregation.
It’s always a challenge to try to summarize or measure a year in just a
few moments. The concept of “measuring
a year” is prominent in the lyrics of the song from the musical “Rent,” “Seasons
of Love.” Through the language of
our prayers, we do measure a year in daylights and sunsets. With our Wednesday Breakfasts, Oneg
Shabbat receptions after services, and the spreads that follow our
well-attended Adult Education events, we do measure a year in cups of
coffee. With our new brick
walkway and biblical garden, we will mark past and future celebrations and hold
close our memories of loved ones, measuring in inches the size of each brick,
the length of the walkway itself, and the specifications of the remainder of
the project. We measure a year in
laughter in the course of programs and conversations, and especially on
Purim. I do have to admit
that we measure years in strife, but the meditation that I often say before a
meeting declares, “O God, may our controversies be for Your sake.” We know that some of the best solutions
emerge even from disagreement or argument as long as we remember that we are on
the same team. The chorus of that song from “Rent” suggests that we should
measure our years in love. And
whether we admit it or not, we do just that when smiles are exchanged across
the generations, when we celebrate life milestones, and when we remember loved
ones who have died in our hearts and minds or in the presence of friends and
family. We measure in love when we
open our building to the Las Cruces community for five hours on a Sunday in the
Spring, relishing the chance to welcome our many guests with the sacred symbols
of our bimah, and the tree of life in the Social Hall as the backdrop for a
wide variety of Jewish foods that people in our area crave. When I went to
Milagro Coffee to pick up bagels for our April 26 study session, the man who
checked me out told me that he needed to pick up his Silent Auction prize. I thanked him for coming to the Jewish
Food and Folk Festival, and he said, “I am from New Jersey, I had to come – where
else could I have gotten Jewish food like that in Las Cruces?” It was a m’chayeh to witness the love
and care at the heart of baking sessions, committee meetings, silent auction
prize collection, gathering materials for the children’s area, very colorful
tickets, and a very high-tech grid for worker sign-up. We learned some lessons that day like “you
can never have too much pastrami,” and “it’s very important to pray for good
weather” – I suppose that was my department. Mainly, we learned that in our own Jewish culinary field of
dreams, “if you offer it, they will come.” Those out-the-door lines may have been a surprise to many of
you, but for Rhonda and me, as we watched the constant stream of people coming
in, we remembered many years of a similar sight in one of our previous
congregations, which was actually doing its similar fundraiser that same day
this year. Here at TBE, the
JFFF was successful and enjoyable because of you. Under th leadership of
Rebecca Berkson and Aggie Saltman, you banded together, took your best wisdom
from past fundraising experience, brainstormed new ideas, got lots of members
involved in one way or another, and you did it. The photo album on the table in the entry foyer contains
pictures of the many, many happy faces of our neighbors, community leaders,
first-time visitors, and, especially, of us – the Temple Beth-El family. In the Torah reading for this
week, God commanded the Israelites to take a census of the community. Had we taken a Temple census that day,
we would have found most of our congregation right here in this space. Everyone who attended counted and
contributed in some way. Thank you
all, and please remember that we will need you and want you to count and
contribute your energy, your hospitality and even your love again next
year!
And that is what we should strive for in all of our programming at
Temple Beth-El: to make our time together a season not only of God keeping us
alive and sustaining us, but a season of love. This week’s Torah reading about taking a census teaches us
that counting every person should guide us to value everyone who comes through
our door, including newcomers, congregants and community members. Our programs and events should be as
open as possible, and if a limit is necessary due to space, our creativity can
guide us in offering an acceptable alternative to demonstrate that we truly
care.
And caring about each person who
counts isn’t just about those who come here. It extends to our work in the community. Our tradition teaches us to be
advocates for fairness and justice for everyone so that each person will have a
feeling of dignity and prosperity.
Two years of offering a December 25 breakfast at Camp Hope, and many
years of serving at El Caldito and giving to Casa de Peregrinos and to other
agencies are among the ways in which we make a difference. The prophets of ancient times and the
Reform Rabbis of 130 years ago would encourage us to go even further. At our program on “Work, Wage, Justice
and the Economy” this past Sunday, I read this quote from the 1885 Pittsburgh
Platform of the Reform movement: “In full accordance with the spirit of the
Mosaic legislation, which strives to regulate the relations between rich and
poor, we deem it our duty to participate in the great task of modern times, to
solve, on the basis of justice and righteousness, the problems presented by the
contrasts and evils of the present organization of society.” That charge still reverberates
from the past to our present as a reminder to find new and significant ways to
love our neighbors as ourselves.
I am grateful to have the opportunity to serve you for
another three years. Rhonda and I
are happy to continue to be your partners in making Temple Beth-El a place
where we can fulfill our Temple mission “to learn, celebrate, serve and grow
together.” I thank Rhonda for her
wisdom, support, and her sharing of her talents yet again. I thank our son Adam at a distance
for his unsurprising wisdom, which will stand him in good stead as the eventual
spouse of a rabbi. I mention Juli
Schnur, Adam’s fiancée, for the first time in an Annual Message, knowing she
will read these words online and begin to see the impact she will have on our
family and, by extension, this congregation. I am grateful to Temple president Dee Cook, to board
members, to committee chairs and members, to the Mensch Club, Sisterhood and
BETY, and to everyone who stands up to be counted. The more we put into our commitment as fellow travelers on
this Jewish and communal journey, the more we will gain for our own growth and
for the ever-increasing spirit and passion of our community. So let us continue to praise God, who
keeps us alive, sustains us, and brings us to new seasons of connection, hope,
joy and love.
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