1 Tishrei 5775 ~ 25
September 2014
I wish each and all of you a year of blessing, good health, sufficient parnasah and much love. As I begin another year as your rabbi, I am grateful to be with you at times of simhah and appreciate your trust in me at times of sorrow.
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are times when we can express gratitude and reflect on where we are as individuals and families, as a congregation and community, as part of Israel and Diaspora Jewish life.
Despite many blessings in my personal life, I have–along with many of you–been feeling anxious over the past year. Last autumn began with the Pew Report on Jewish identity which quantified the “unconscious uncoupling” of young adults from Jewish life. The year concluded with concern about the security of Israel. I found myself increasingly worried about Iran and nuclear weapons, Ebola and Ukraine, local floods and ice storms and the slow, steady deterioration of our planetary environment.
During these Days of Awe and throughout the year, I take strength from the mothers we read of these days: Sarah and Hagar, Hanna and Rachel. Each faced disruption and despair, yet were not overwhelmed by fear. They were sustained by faith and hope that was realized over time.
I have been thinking about the passage of time. Please count with me: one - two - three. In three years, I shall conclude my service to Beth Tzedec. I don’t yet know what I’ll be doing after that. But I do know that during the next two years, the Congregation will have to frame a strategic plan, determine what it wants in a new rabbi and successfully recruit my successor.
The shofar calls. Time marches on. Soon we will begin a series of events in honour of the 60th anniversary of the merger of our founding congregations. We have a great history, much to be proud of and a positive and strong future that requires our involvement and investment.
I’m sure some of you have heard this one:
A woman was talking to an acquaintance about what to do for her 50th anniversary.
The friend asked, "What did you do for your 25th?”
“My husband and I went to Hawaii.”
The friend then asked, "What are you thinking about for your 50th?"
"I was thinking of bringing him back.”
We can’t bring back the past, but we can learn from it. In 1964, Look Magazine published a cover-story on the “Vanishing American Jew”. Fifty years later, notwithstanding our concerns about Diaspora and Israeli security, we are immeasurably stronger than we were then. BTW, Look Magazine ceased publication in 1971.
On Broadway in 1964, two hits featured Jewish stories and stars. Barbra Streisand portrayed Fanny Brice, a funny, talented and confident Jewish woman, with “a nose in spite of her face”. It wasn’t yet Yentel, but Streisand anticipated many of the changes that would engage women in Jewish life and society.
Fifty years ago this week, a play starring Zero Mostel opened on Broadway. A few years ago, Josette and I were in Lisbon and saw a billboard for that play. Based on eight Yiddish stories by Sholom Aleichem, it told of Tevye der Milkher, whose daughters challenged the old ways. Five decades later, it was playing to sold-out houses in a country that expelled Jews 500 years ago.
By 1964, what began in Europe as an approach to Jewish study had become the dominant Jewish religious movement of North America. Conservative Judaism attracted people who wanted mixed seating and traditional davening. Conservative Judaism represented authenticity. Our rabbis were engaged with traditional Torah study, contemporary culture and Zionism. Parents wanted strong educational and youth programs for their children.
If you were married in 1964, please raise your hand.
If you were born in that year, please raise your hand.
If you marked your bar mitzvah in 1964, as did I, please raise your hand.
If you were not yet born in 1964, please raise your hand.
It was the height of the baby boom. Our congregational Hebrew schools were packed. Intensive Jewish day school education was looked upon with skepticism. Associated had been around, Bialik had just begun and USDS was in its third year. Beth Tzedec was booming.
In 1964, Jews were scarce in Bay Street law firms, hospitals and bank leadership, but Phil Givens was Mayor and Jewish life was on the rise. UJA raised $2,650,000, a new record. (Shout out to David Matlow: How much will we raise this year?)
A CBC interview of a Nazi in uniform stimulated Jewish anger, particularly from Shoah survivors, and set the stage for the Allen Gardens Riot the next year. Jews would no longer be silent. As we became more engaged in Israel and began efforts to save Soviet and Syrian Jewry, we felt increasingly comfortable with public displays of Jewish identity.
As you may know, there was a significant difference between the Broadway version and the Yiddish stories about Tevye. In the original, the father resists his daughters, potential sons-in-law and the historical forces of economic hardship, communism, materialism, expulsion and romantic love. He cannot stop the changes, he is at times uncertain, but he is opposed to Hava’s conversion and marriage.
Even so, at one point, Tevye offers this monologue:
Strange thoughts came to my mind: What did it mean to be a Jew, and what did it mean to be a non-Jew? And why did God create Jews and non-Jews, and why were they so set apart from one another?…. the more I wanted to forget [Hava], the clearer … I [heard] her voice: “הער מיך אויס טאטע–פאָטער – Hear me out, Papa, Papa!” …. I beat my breast … “For we have sinned, ashamnu,” but I didn’t know how I had sinned. All I knew was that my life was in turmoil.
In the story,“Lekh-Lekho”, whose title resonates with God’s call to Avraham, Hava hears of the announced expulsion, leaves her husband and seeks to return to her family. Sholem Aleichem breaks the fourth wall, asking the reader to decide whether or not toforgive her, asking: “Put yourself in Tevye's place and tell me honestly, in plain language, what you would have done… “
My friend Rabbi Philip Scheim writes: “Reading the story of Chava, we feel … that it could have been written … today. For we … feel as befuddled as did … Tevye at the turn of the 20th century. We, like Tevye, are caught between two worlds, and are often unsure as to how to best navigate between the greater society that entices, that beckons, that appeals to us on so many levels—and our own Jewish world that still retains a foothold in our hearts and consciousness”.
Avraham, in our Torah reading, was both anxious and optimistic. Although worried about future progeny, he is trusting and hopeful. “The man without a country will inherit a whole land; the man with a barren wife will have plenteous offspring; and the man who has cut himself off from kith and kin will be pronounced blessed by all the families of the earth”. (Jonathan Levenson).
Avraham goes against expectations. He stands apart from the general culture around him, a model for Tevye and generations for other Jews. But now we stand fully within North American culture with pride in Jewish identity and attachment to Israel. The Pew Report identifies this as a new historical phenomenon, although it has always been a model for Conservative Judaism.
For Avraham—and for the Jews in the Pew— leading an ethical and moral life is essential to faith. Conservative Judaism seeks to stress essential and universal mitzvot, while also strengthening the ritual traditions of home and synagogue so that we continue as a unique community, goy ehad ba’aretz.
Hava and contemporary metrics of intermarriage can’t be ignored. But those who connect to community and tradition are more likely to raise Jewish children. At Beth Tzedec we try to develop programs for single Jews to meet each other, actively encourage conversion when they don’t and support mixed families who want to raise Jewish children. We have to carefully maintain that balance.
Following the 1964 Look Magazine article, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel declared, “Our community is in spiritual distress and our organizations are too concerned with digits. The significance of Judaism does not lie in being conducive to mere survival but in being a source of spiritual wealth and source of meaning to all peoples.” Conservative Judaism always felt that to have something substantive to share with others, we had to increase our own Jewish knowledge.
Although the Talmud Yerushalmi teaches that "the middle way" in Judaism is the best (Hagigah 2:1, fol. 77a) - and this was emphasized by Maimonides in medieval times and Solomon Schechter in modern times, we are witnessing social, political and religious polarization. Our less knowledgeable and engaged young people look for a less-demanding form of Judaism. Our more observant adherents seek a Shabbat community committed to kashrut.
A man and his wife had married young. They were now 70, celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. On their special day a good fairy came to them and said that because they had been such a devoted couple she would grant each of them a very special wish. The wife wished for a trip around the world with her husband. Whoosh! Immediately she had airline/cruise tickets in her hands. The man wished for a female companion 25 years younger... Whoosh... immediately he turned 95!!
Since 1964, we have aged and our numbers have declined. Conservative Jews have fewer children than our Orthodox cousins. This raises concerns not only for our future, but for all of Jewish life. Conservative Jews are the leaders of many of our communal institutions. Consider the leaders of the UJA historically and today: Richard Venn, our member Chairs UJA; the Campaign chairs next year will be Felicia Posluns and Shoel Silver. We also anchor the community, providing a place where Orthodox and Reform Jews and their leaders can bridge deep disagreements and divisions.
The demographic changes will require Conservative Judaism to become more focused. The day schools of 1964 became great investments for Jewish continuity. Those who are active and engaged in our day schools, Camp Ramah, USY and Israel programs show remarkable commitment to home observance, synagogue affiliation, in-marriage and Zionist identification.
What might we anticipate for the future for Conservative Judaism?
- continued
intellectual openness and diversity of practice
- increased
emphasis on God and the spiritual dimension of Jewish law
- less
distinctive male-female roles and more women-friendly environments. (kaddish from the lakefront)
- more
efforts to engage a younger generation (our What’s Brewing
initiative is one example)
- fewer
choirs and more communal singing with hazzanim serving as
facilitators of prayer.
- fewer
sermons, more divrei torah and Torah discussion
- continued
emphasis on education (50% of CHAT students are from Conservative homes)
- more Israel
engagement. Our Shinshinim, Young Emissaries and their families, the
teens who study for a semester at Ramah High School, the gap year kids on Masa
programs, students who spend a year at university)
- more mishpat
and tzedakah projects in Diaspora (our work in the post Hurricane
Sandy cleanup; our teen trip this year to Detroit).
- greater
ideological pride in what Conservative Judaism has accomplished and what we
stand for. (Rav Adam also addressing this theme today)
- increased
efforts to create communities of commitment
- emphasis on
mission and mitzvah more than
membership (learn from Chabad and Aish)
- focus on
relational Judaism - change in staffing models, expectations of klei kodesh
and leadership. Host United Synagogue conference
this December.
Last weekend, my friend and colleague Yael Splansky was installed as the Senior Rabbi of Holy Blossom. I wish her much success. But American Reform faces major problems because of the high rate of interfaith marriage. The most committed Reform Jews may look elsewhere.
At the moment, the Orthodox community is strong, but younger women increasingly want more engagement with ritual. If they can find a community also serious about Shabbat, many will migrate to Conservative congregations.
On Monday, October 6, Chancellor Arnold Eisen of the Jewish Theological Seminary will join with the acclaimed writer, David Bezmozgis to discuss the future of Jewish life and culture in the Diaspora. The short-list for the Giller Prize will be announced that day. I hope you will come to listen and think with them. Later this year, I’ll be teaching a seminar on Conservative Judaism. I hope you’ll participate.
We have come a long way in 50 years. Like Avraham, we have every reason to be anxious AND hopeful. Our leadership is thinking fast and furious about the future. Important issues for our congregation lie ahead.
In one of Sholom Aleichem’s stories, Tevya the Milkman concludes, “Say hello for me to all our Jews and tell them wherever they are, not to worry: the old God of Israel still lives!” In our anxious times, let’s remember those words so that we will all be inscribed and sealed for a year of life.
