The rabbis say Hayom Harat Olam/Today is the Birthday of the World. We live on an amazing planet; what a miracle that life exists on our little marble in space. However, as great as the Earth is it is not perfect. Rabbi Isaac Luria, a great Kabbalist, a Jewish mystic, explain how it is that God could create an imperfect world. He taught that in the beginning God was everything and everywhere; in order to make room for creation, God withdrew into God’s self creating a void where creation could be inserted. God created vessels to hold emanations of the Divine Self that would be in creation, but the vessels were unable to contain God’s perfection and they broke, spilling Godliness haphazardly into the world. A core Jewish belief developed that we are partners with God in creation by engaging in Tikun Olam or “Repairing the World”. Even while appreciating the wonders of life on Earth, we can readily see the imperfections – war, hunger, poverty, disease and homelessness, just to name a few. Rosh Hashanah is a time of Heshbon HaNefesh/Soul Searching as we examine our past and set goals for our future. And so as we examine our ways, we have to ask to ask ourselves what are the ills of society that I can’t live with and what am I willing to do about them?

We live in a flawed world with many large problems, problems beyond my ability to fix, however, as we learn in Pirkei Avot (2:21): You are not obliged to finish the task, but neither are you free to neglect it. So why do we worry about the problems of the world and try to fix them? Because we are God’s partners and it is our holy task, because we are at our core a hopeful and optimistic people. So what are some of the ills of society and what can we do about them?

Let’s talk about the economy, the recession. I can’t think of any period in my lifetime when finances have been so tough for so many. Many of us know people who have lost their job or had their salary cut or frozen; some of those people are sitting in this room. So what can you and I do about the economy? We can use this change in financial fortune as an opportunity to examine our priorities. We have become a very materialistic consumer driven society, we are not satisfied with what we have, we always want more, bigger, newer, better. I would argue that outlook is not healthy or in our best interest. We have raised a generation of children who feel entitled, rather grateful.   So let us use this as an opportunity to remind ourselves that, as the Little Prince says, “what is essential is invisible to the eye.” (p. 87) We have an opportunity to reprioritize that we would not have taken were we not forced to spend more judiciously, to save more carefully, to buy based on needs rather than wants. Every crisis is also an opportunity, do not squander this opportunity.

Let’s talk about hunger. All you have to do is spend a little bit of time on the American Jewish World Service website to see how many places are dealing with issues of poverty and hunger; and to learn that hunger is a political issue, that there is enough food to feed everyone on the planet, however, governments are more concerned with profits than with feeding everyone. Hunger is a crime against humanity and it is time for us to raise our voices in protest. Hunger is a Jewish problem, in Pirkei Avot (3:21) it also says: Without sustenance there is no Torah. Quite a statement that values Torah above all else! But hunger is a matter of Pikuach Nefesh Saving a Person and supersedes all ritual laws; preserving life is the highest of Jewish values. Mazon is a Jewish group that works to alleviate hunger. You can support Mazon by joining their 3% circle – donate 3% of the cost of any Simcha to Mazon as your way of supporting others while you celebrate. In earlier times the rabbis taught that to every Simcha the poor must be invited, seated and fed; this is our way of continuing that tradition of sharing our bounty with others who are less fortunate. Locally, support WIN – the Wayne Interfaith Network; Shomrei Torah is a participating House of Worship in the WIN consortium. When you leave today, please make sure to a grocery bag with you, fill it up with the items listed on the side of the bag and bring it back with you when you come for Kol Nidre in just over a week from now. Throughout the year whenever you go shopping throw an extra item or two into you cart and then bring it with you to the synagogue and drop it in the WIN barrel to continue to feed the hungry in an easy and ongoing way. Together we can make a difference.

War is a blight on our planet, we are not politicians nor generals we don’t declare wars nor do we fight them, but we can do our part to try and end them. Granted it is a small part, but we do what we can. For too many years I’ve spoken about the plight of the genocide in Darfur. For six long years the government of Sudan has systematically attacked, destroyed and killed black Africans in Darfur. Thousands have been raped and murdered, so what can we do? We can be a Congregation of Conscience. We can send postcards to President Obama asking him to become more involved in the issue and we can support organizations like SaveDarfur.org. Small steps, but at least we keep trying to make a difference.

Another place where we face war is Israel. Israel has been under attack since her inception. There have been times of relative calm, but never peace. She is hated not only by the Palestinians, but the surrounding Arab countries and it often seems by the rest of the word. Israel is not a perfect place, but for the Jewish people it is home, even for those of us who have chosen not to live there. A visit to Israel is different than going to any other place on earth. Just last week Israel was accused of war crimes by the UN Goldstone Commission, most in the Jewish community feel that the report was not evenhanded and failed to discriminate between defensive actions by a sovereign nation under attack and hostilities perpetrated by a terrorist organization. Now I don’t claim to have firsthand knowledge or to be an unbiased source; but I can tell you that the report has most in the Jewish community up in arms. The liberal left has said that rather than just rejecting the report because we don’t like what it says, why don’t we use it as an impetus to take a careful look of our own and then draw our own conclusions. Perhaps, we have made mistakes, perhaps we can learn from the experience; we don’t have to buy into the propaganda of those who wish us ill, but we need not have a knee jerk reaction to them either. I think that UN should be ashamed of themselves, but I also think the Israeli government should establish an independent panel to look into the allegations. It is after all the period of Heshbon HaNefesh.

The greatest fear that Israel and the world has at this time is Iran and their nuclear capability. Iran is a very scary place. We should not be so quick to dismiss what they say. We should keep a close eye on Iran and we should raise our voices in protest whenever possible. The next opportunity will be next Thursday at the UN. The Jewish community is protesting while Iranian President Mahmud Achminadajad is speaking before the UN.   There is a bus going from UJA for those that do not want to drive into the City. There are flyers in the lobby with all the information. Consider making a stand against Iran as part of your observance of the New Jewish Year.

Healthcare – I've had people ask me to speak about the healthcare crisis and others who recommend that I stay away from the issue since it is so “political”. I am not a politician and I’m not here to talk politics with you. I’m not here to endorse any particular healthcare plan. However, to ignore what is unquestionably the topic of the day for most Americans when Judaism has so much to say on the subject is relegate Jewish values to the sidelines rather than learning from the richness of our tradition. For thousands of years Judaism has required Jewish communities to provide access to healthcare for everyone. Jewish courts required physicians to treat patients who could not afford to pay; and required the community to use communal funds to pay for the health care needs of indigent members of society. That is why all four movements: Reform, Reconstructionist, Conservative and Orthodox have all called for healthcare reform that calls for universal coverage for all citizens. We know that the current system is broken and needs to be reformed.

It is inconceivable to me that 47 million Americans are uninsured; that people with insurance like you and me, have reasonable requests for medications and procedures denied by insurance companies; that doctors are forced to spend more time filling out paperwork and filing claims than engaging in patient care. While healthcare providers have always put the needs of the patient first, the healthcare system functions on a business model and is about profit first and protecting lives second – the situation is intolerable and must change. One of the most troubling statistics I have heard is that 18,000 people a year die from preventable causes due to a lack of health insurance. One case has become infamous in that it was carried by both the NY Times and the Wall Street Journal, that of Nikki White. She was a young college graduate employed and insured who was diagnosed with lupus. Her illness eventually left her too sick to work and she lost her job and her insurance. In any other industrialized nation this would not have been a problem, lupus is a treatable disease under a doctor’s care. Nikki tried desperately to get health insurance, but no one would take her with a preexisting condition. Eventually, Nikki collapsed and was rushed to the ER where she was treated because they are mandated to do so. The hospital then performed 25 operations on her and she spent six months in the ICU, but to no avail, it was too little, too late – Nikki died. Her doctor said, “Nikki didn’t die of lupus. She died of complications of the failing American healthcare system.” You decide what changes you favor, but everyone should be clamoring for change.

Now let’s talk about homelessness. I’m not talking about indigents on the street, but families right here in Passaic county that have discovered much to their dismay that do to the economy that they just can’t make ends meet and suddenly, they discover that they can no longer afford their home. Can you imagine that on top of everything else suddenly having no home to call your own, no place to shelter your children. In our area there are shelters for adults, but no shelters that take families. And so an organization was created called the Interfaith Hospitality Network of Passaic County and its mission was to find Houses of Worship for homeless families to stay with during their time of transition. We used to be a supporter of the program providing volunteers and meals at the Methodist Church whenever they were host to a homeless family. Sadly the program fell apart. Do to the current demand it has been resurrected under the name Family Promise of Passaic County. Diane Seltzer and Henry Ramer have been our representatives on the new central planning committee. It is the hope of everyone involved that they will find the needed 13 Houses of Worship to provide shelter to these families in need. It is my hope that Shomrei Torah will step up to the plate and answer the call for sanctuary that has been a part of our tradition since Biblical times and we will volunteer to host these most unfortunate families.

So you see there are so many needs and so many ways to help. What we need to avoid is apathy and indifference. Ours is a tradition that taught the world to care for the widow and orphan, the most vulnerable members of society; to feed the hungry, clothe the naked and shelter the homeless. It is a commandment to see to the needs of others. In the Aleinu we commit ourselves to litaken olam b’malchut shaddai, to repair the world and make it a kingdom of God. Let us each do our part to make the kingdom of God here on Earth a reality.

Shanah Tovah