High Holiday Speech 5774

Transcription

1 High Holiday Speech 5774 Boker Tov! We all join together this year, 5774, to raise our voices in unison, pray and sing, and share in the High Holidays. We, as individuals make up this congregation, but as a group we make this temple come alive! As Co- President, I want to say La Shana Tova from both Ken and I and from the entire Board. It is always heartwarming to stand here in front of both new members and those that have been here for a long time. Welcome! It is inspiring to begin Yom Kippur with this fresh slate and a New Year to look forward to. What will it bring? Not confetti, but a rams horn to make us cognizant of a fresh beginning. We look ahead with anticipation and curiosity.hopefully to some thought provoking and motivating occasions and not too many complications. If you do run into issues, your temple family is here for you, to help, to comfort, to offer ideas and to pull you up. These are not just words. We have a formal Caring Committee chaired by Jackie Herzlinger, but also caring members who have become your friends and are concerned for your well-being. Let us know what we can do for you. The value of TSS lies with the people who are sitting around you. They are the ones who open their arms and put them around you, who deliver food to your door when you are ill, the friends who drive Hebrew school carpool with you. Here, you are always surrounded by family, by people who support you through life s most difficult challenges, and celebrate life s joys with you as well. Every moment provides the ability to acknowledge our appreciation for our lives through verbal or silent gratitude. During the morning Shabbat service, there are a group of blessings that we say, thanking G-d for everything from waking up and breathing, to the clothes we wear, to the earth we stand on, to being Jews. As Reform Jews, maybe we don t go through the ritual of prayer as often as others, but prayer can ground us, it can make us appreciative for all that is in our lives. These blessings help us realize that the world is a vast place and we are small but significant pieces of it.

2 Although the concept of G-d is complicated, I know that whatever word you use, there is a spirit, a force that gave life to this world. And I am making this announcement before you all I LOVE being Jewish.the songs, the food, the holidays, the family traditions. Judaism is just so fulfilling. It astonishes me still when I read the Bible the knowledge that is in there, written so long ago by a people who did not know science or have a modern understanding of the world. Yes, there are the parts about animal sacrifice, but there are also multiple environmental passages of nature protection - forbidding the destruction of fruit-bearing trees when waging war against a city, leaving a mother bird in her nest. In Leviticus it mentions leaving the land fallow after six years which current agriculturists encourage. The wisdom is astounding. Then there are the laws and treatment of people from respecting parents and acting kindly toward neighbors to personal injury liability; taking care of the vulnerable in society such as widows and orphans cited in Deuteronomy; repayment of debt and treating employees fairly.all encouraging a sense of justice. Again, the wisdom is astounding. Keeping the Sabbath, such a necessity in an era when you were hunting and gathering for survival and every day was a struggle. Now we know how important it is to stop and smell the roses (or the brisket); to have that day of rest to regroup and give your mind and body a chance to re-energize. Once more, the wisdom is astounding. These are just some of the policies found in the Torah that are not some oldy moldy guidelines, but philosophies and policies that have found their way into our current government, court system, and daily lives; regulations that give us a system to live honorably, ethically, and with principles. How much pride do you take in being Jewish? I heard of a story recently of a man from Poland who was raised as a Catholic but found out on his mother s deathbed that he was really a Kohen. Thirteen years after that discovery he travelled to Israel and held a Bar Mitzvah at the Kotel. This man took such care to cultivate his new religion, his heritage. Many of us, however, take our Judaism for granted and let it slip away. There are different reasons people are Jewish: there are the secular Jews who just love bagels and kugel (that s

3 me), the ones who take pleasure in knowing they are part of a group of people like Albert Einstein and the Marx Brothers (that s me), or those who take perverse pleasure in being part of a people who have been persecuted for centuries (that s my son). There are those who feel the family pressure and go along with it for the sake of parents and grandparents (probably also my son). However, as we have heard Rabbi Goldstein say over the years, we are standing on the shoulders of the ones who came before us. We are also a people on a journey. My plea is to not let the journey end here. Make a commitment to the Jewish people, to your ancestors, to the congregants of Temple Sha arey Shalom. Do not take for granted that TSS will always be here. I don t know if anyone remembers a scroll article I wrote when I was Sisterhood President. To give you the short synopsis, I grew up a few short exits down the Parkway in Woodbridge. Adath Israel was as familiar to me as my own home and I always thought that Woodbridge was a Jewish town because everyone I knew was Jewish! My Bat Mitzvah was the first with a theme a Hawaiian Luau (don t even ask me because I could not tell you why!) So a few years ago when I drove by and saw that the building had been converted into a veterinary clinic after 90 years, I was terribly saddened. All my memories were just that..memories. The people that I sat in temple with and prayed with are all scattered now. I ask that you find it in your hearts to be a real part of Temple Sha arey Shalom and build relationships. Take a class (the Rabbi s have been very popular), do yoga with the Cantor, join the choir (you don t need to read music or Hebrew or even be Jewish!). Come hear author Alan Sidransky who wrote a book, Forgiving Maximo Rothman, loosely based on his great uncle who came to the Dominican Republic during World War II to escape the Holocaust. Join us later this month for the pasta and mind reading night. Coming up for the junior youth group is cider and a movie. Admit that you are old enough to join Renaissance and go on one of their fabulous trips! Get involved!! If you want clergy that know you and are available in your time of need; if you want your children to get a Jewish education; not only in preparation for Bar

4 or Bat Mitzvah, but for life; if you want to see the next generation raised with Jewish values and knowledge; and if you want a strong Jewish community, then I ask you to make a financial pledge as well. Because in a tough economic environment, with job insecurity and tight budgets, a synagogue still must meet the needs of our members, support the community, and pay the bills. It s not easy, but of course we all know that in good times and bad, people still get married, need a place to pray, need to educate their children, celebrate joy, mourn loss, and most of all, they still need a community. We have a duty to continue to provide for the needs of our congregants. Each congregants investment in Temple Sha arey Shalom is just that, an investment. How long will it take to pay off this investment? Come to Shabbat services and you will feel it is all worthwhile. Listen to your child chant a prayer and sing a Hebrew song and you will feel it is all worthwhile. Have the Rabbi give a eulogy over a loved one s funeral and you will be sure it is all worthwhile. Feel the reverence when standing on the Bima and you will believe it is all worthwhile. It is up to you to make this investment pay off. The compensation does not come in dollars. The reward is the feeling you get in your heart, the pride, the tears in your eyes, the lump in your throat; the joy being part of this synagogue brings to you. Understand that it is not a pay for services but a promise to the Jewish people for continuity and permanence. Your dues only cover a portion of what it costs to run this temple. As a building it needs maintenance and as a place for gathering it needs people. Your tzadekah pledge helps us meet these needs. We appreciate all monetary pledges, large and small. A gift of $18 is only a nickel a day, and a gift of $100 is a little more than a quarter a day. Please help us reach our goal. There are boxes in the lobby and ushers to collect your pledge after the service. Raising funds to support, enhance, strengthen and sustain the temple is a necessity. So make an eternal connection. Awaken from a spiritual sleep.

5 I believe I am blessed to live this life. It is not always smooth sailing, but I have a wonderful family with my husband John and my sons Scott and Brian plus my sisters and extended family who are such a support system, a (somewhat) lovely home, a (somewhat) decent job, a (somewhat) healthy body, and friends that I can turn to any time for any reason. I truly appreciate having the opportunity to work with the staff here, a group of dedicated clergy, office staff, and teachers who strive every day to give strong leadership and counsel. I also want to thank Ken, the Board members and other volunteers who step up to the plate on a daily basis. This year, like usual, we're reminded that working for peace and health for all people might be more effective than merely praying. The sculpture that sits on our bima says Pray as if everything depends on God and act as if everything depended on you. That has always resonated with me. I ll leave you with this witty adage from Facebook Look back and get experience. Look Forward and see Hope. Look around and find reality. Look within and find your self. Let me say I am more thankful than ever for loved ones, friends, family Zochreynu inscribe us in the book of life. Shana Tova, have a Sweet New Year.