Jewish Vision & Goals – Rosh Hashanah I, 5771

Rabbi Randy Mark – Shomrei Torah, Wayne, NJ

Let me begin by saying how nice it is to see you all! I am always awed by the sight of so many of us gathered together on the holidays. Something brings us here year after year and I think it is more than just nostalgia, there is power in Rosh Hashanah and we feel the draw calling to us and we respond.  In part we respond to the challenge of Rosh Hashanah. Rosh Hashanah is an opportunity to change, to grow, to improve; and after all, no matter how good you have it, the idea of things being better is just too appealing to ignore. Let me share with you a story that I received from a master storyteller, Rabbi Jack Reimer.

And so let me begin my sermon by telling you a story today. It comes from one of the most charismatic and dynamic figures of our own time. I want to tell you this story today for two reasons. One is because it gets to the core of what these holy days are all about, and the other is because it deals with the most popular cop-out that all of us use when we confront a moral issue. I believe that this story expresses a basic truth about the nature of human beings, and I believe that this story explains why we have come here today, and what our task is at this season of the year.

This is the story as he heard it years ago from Rabbi Morris Kertzer. Rabbi Kertzer was a Jewish civil servant. He held a number of positions in Jewish life over the years including a leadership position in the New York Board of Rabbis. And he tells the story of how, in that capacity, he used to go to visit the Lubavitcher Rebbe.

The two of them would meet every so often in order to exchange ideas and information, and even in order to see if they could trade political favors. In the course of one such meeting, the Rebbe said to Rabbi Kertzer, “I want to ask you for a favor.” Rabbi Kertzer said, “Certainly, Rebbe, I will do whatever I can to help you. What is it that you need?” And the Rebbe said, “As you may know, the New York City Housing Authority is planning to put up a huge high-rise for lower income people just a block or so from here. Some of my Hassidim have already applied for apartments there and have been accepted. I have just one request. These Chassidim are observant Jews, and so they do not use the elevator on Shabbas. You know some people at the Housing Authority. Could you please use your influence and see if you can get the lower floors of this building reserved for Jews.”

Rabbi Kertzer said that he would do whatever he could. And then the Rebbe made a second request. He said, “When you make this request to the Housing Authority, please don’t ask that the lower floors be reserved for Chassidim or for observant Jews. Instead, ask that the lower floors be reserved for Jews.” 

Rabbi Kertzer said, “But Rebbe, surely you know that not all Jews are observant. Aren’t you aware that there are many Jews who do use the elevator on Shabbas?”

To which the Rebbe replied, “From what a Jew is or does this Shabbas, you can never predict what he will be or do next Shabbas.” 

I love that story because it makes a very important point about human nature, which is that people can change. From what a person does this week you cannot predict what he will do next week.

I think that this is the key to understanding the extraordinary success that the Rebbe and his followers have had in persuading people to change. They really believe that people can change, and so they work on them, and work on them, and work on them until they do change.

And I think that this story is the key to understanding what Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are about. These days are devoted to self-examination and to doing teshuvah, and they are based on the premise that, if we really want to badly enough, and if we are really willing to try hard enough, we can change. If we are not capable of changing, if we are really prisoners of the past, as some people claim we are, then Rosh Hashanah would be a waste of time, and Yom Kippur would be a lie. For what is the sense of coming here and reciting prayers asking God to help us change if we can’t change? What is the sense of giving sermons urging people to change if they can’t change? It is rubbing salt into their wounds to tell people to change, if they can’t. The key to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is the belief that from what a person does this week, you cannot predict what s/he will do next week.

Inevitably change happens; sometimes slowly. I can vouch that at least for the last 15 years when you came to services on Rosh Hashanah the mahzor on your seat was the old Silverman mahzor. Many congregations switched in the 1980s when more contemporary machzorim started coming out, but others like us continued using what was familiar, even if outdated. However, the old mahzor didn’t meet the needs of many of our members and I knew the day would come when we would switch. Some will complain that this new mahzor has left out a favorite prayer, some will complain that they don’t like the translation; but almost everyone who has seen it agrees that it is a HUGE improvement over what we had been using. Suddenly there is a readable translation, more transliteration to allow non-Hebrew readers to follow along when we sing. There are instructions, comments, history, insights, meditations, and a host of features that makes this mahzor the best that money can buy. We have invested well.

Mahzor Lev Shalem has features not found in any other mahzor – it has sensitivity to gender issues;   it has piyyutim and poems from Jewish communities around the world – Italian, Spanish, Yiddish & Ladino; it has prayers and meditations for special occasions like a mediation for one who cannot fast on Yom Kippur, a Yizkor for an abusive parent, prayers for caregivers, economic challenges & emotional challenges. This mahzor should speak to more of you and open up the world of prayer to many in a way that we have not experienced before.

So what does Lev Shalem mean? A literal translation would be a Complete Heart, but what does that mean? One meaning is “with joy and with devotion” this is a mahzor that we can use with joy and with devotion as we offer our praise of God. Another meaning is with a heart united with the hearts of others and this is also a book that can unite us together as we offer our prayers to God. A third variation in meaning is that a Lev Shalem means with a heart that is united, not divided. Often we come to the High Holy Days with a heart divided, our vision is not clear, we are not sure how we want to spend our time, what should be our focus; and the hope is that by using this mahzor, you will find the clarity to leave here with a united heart. And finally, a Lev Shalem can mean with Kavvanah, with intention; that as you pray from this mahzor that various readings and meditations will help you to focus spiritually.

This mahzor has gone through a long and thoughtful birthing process. For more than a decade a dedicated group of rabbis, cantors and scholars have been working diligently to create the masterpiece that we have before us. Historically, prayer books evolved as the service developed, today, we plan that development, we chose what changes, and we create the mahzor that we desire. Knowing what it is that we want at the outset helped us tremendously to achieve our goal. 

As a congregation we have been engaged in the same process. For two years now we have been doing Strategic Planning. For those of you who are not around here on a regular basis I can tell you that it has made a HUGE difference in how we operate as a synagogue. Year after year we were here going about our business, sometimes doing it well, sometimes not. But it wasn’t until we started working with consultants from the UJA Federation of NNJ that we began to realize that there were aspects of the business model that could benefit us as a synagogue. Businesses often have a Mission Statement that guides and directs them. For a very long time synagogues figured they didn’t need such things since everyone knows why we are here, or do we? We discovered that if you put a group of us in a room that there were a whole host of different ideas as to why we need a synagogue and what our purpose is in being here. So first we had to come up with a list of core values that everyone could agree were what Shomrei Torah was all about. So here’s our list:

• We value a congregation that is welcoming, caring, and compassionate.
• We value tradition, spirituality, and egalitarian ritual observance.
• We value the philosophy and teachings of the Conservative movement.
• We value an inclusive community that embraces diversity and is welcoming to all families, regardless of religious background or level of observance.
• We value lifelong education for all members, children and adults alike.
• We value our connection to the State of Israel.
• We value volunteerism and social action through tzedaka and tikkun olam.
• We value strong leadership in our congregation.
• We value the enhancement and preservation of our house of worship. 

Once we had a baseline upon which to build, our next task was to come up with a Mission Statement. We even brought it to a congregational meeting so that the body politic of our congregation could approve it. Here it is:

We are an egalitarian Conservative congregation dedicated to worshipping God through prayer, Torah study and community service. We provide a cultural, spiritual, and religious home for a diverse Jewish population. Our congregation fosters strong Jewish values and a commitment to Jewish living through pride in our Jewish heritage, lifelong education, tzedaka, and gemilut hasadim (doing good deeds).

There you have it, who we are in a nutshell; a concise description. It was a start, but we didn’t just want to describe who we are, but we also wanted to inspire people with a vision of what we hoped to be and so we did a Vision Statement too, I’ve modified it to put it in the future tense because I don’t think we’ve yet achieved our goal, but it is our guiding principal: 

Our synagogue seeks to be vibrant, inspiring congregants through spiritually uplifting services to a greater commitment for Jewish living. Our members generously donate their time, talents and resources to support each other in our house of study and prayer; and actively participate in the synagogue’s religious, educational, and social functions. Shomrei Torah is a place that attracts members not only for lifecycle events, but people for whom their spiritual and social lives is a central component. Our cohesive, caring congregation of lifelong learners is committed to the observance of mitzvot and social action.

That’s quite a challenge! We’ve only begun to scratch the surface. But we’ve come to realize that unless you have a goal and a vision, you don’t get anywhere. You just are – you exist. But change and growth are a part of life and if you are not growing and changing, then you are stagnating and dying. We can become a more vibrant congregation, but it won’t happen by accident, it takes planning, it takes time and it takes effort.

Over the course of the last couple of years I've read a great deal on this subject and I’ve attended many workshops and seminars. One of the most interesting aspects of navigating change is the resistance to change that we all experience. We like what is familiar and comfortable even if it isn’t good for us. Change isn’t easy, think of how often people make the same New Year’s resolution year after year to lose weight, stop smoking, stop drinking, stop whatever self-destructive behavior they are engaged in, yet a year later they are still in the same place. We resist the change that will benefit us. Shomrei Torah needs to grow and change in order to thrive, survival isn’t the goal, being the best Conservative congregation in Wayne, NJ that we can be, is the challenge. As true as that is for us as an institution, so to it is for each of us as individuals.

Each of us changes over time, we can’t help it, it is part of human nature; that is as true for us Jewishly as it is for the rest of our lives. Who I am as a Jew today, is very different from the Jew I was 10 years ago or 20 years ago or 30 years ago; I have grown and changed, but often it just happened, it was only later on that I began to plan my Jewish growth, to give thought to what I wanted to learn, to which mitzvot I wanted to incorporate into my life. You see each of us can and I would argue should plan our own Jewish growth and development. Just as a business or a synagogue can benefit from plan, so to can we. We can follow the same procedure that we used as a synagogue. First, give some thought to what are our core values – what is it that drives and motivates you Jewishly? For me my core Jewish values are curiosity; competency & community. I am a naturally curious person, I like to know things, I wonder about the world and the people in it. I like learning simply for the sake of gaining knowledge. I value competency, when I encounter something in Judaism, I have a desire to master the skill – that is how I learned to daven, how I learned to read Torah, how I learned most of what I know and use as a rabbi. And most of all, I value community! I want nothing more than to learn and to live my Judaism surrounded by others who are also seeking and exploring and living their Judaism. So I guess my personal Jewish mission statement would be I seek to be a part of caring Jewish community that seeks to learn Torah together and to live active Jewish lives. Which leads me to my goals – 1. To build a caring Jewish community here at Shomrei Torah; 2. To find a cadre of people who which to learn and grow Jewishly; & 3. To foster a desire to fulfill mitzvot among the members of this community. 

So here’s my challenge to you – identify your core Jewish values, express your personal mission statement and set your person Jewish goals for the year. You will change over time, so why not plan it, guide it, and direct it; become the Jew that you want to be; that you are meant to be. I’m here to help you and I’m hoping that you’ll want to do it as a part of this community, a caring community of seekers, seeking a life inspired by Torah and by one another. 

Wishing you a Shanah Tovah u’Mitukah/A Happy and Sweet New Year