YOM KIPPUR 5774

YK 5774 – Morning

My fellow congregants! Shabbat shalom and shanah tovah! Welcome to the 5774^th Yom Kippur since the creation of the world! I’m glad to see you all here this morning. Thank you, Dr. Martin Lee for your words. With your permission, I will expand on them a bit in just a moment. Thanks to Barry Glass for his Shacharit davening, to Dr. Samuel Fersht for his Torah leyning, to Avremi Manzur for his Haftarah, and to Cantor Kerry Katz for the Torah service, the upcoming Musaf and later today, Ne’ilah. Thanks to Larry Miller for giving us the list of donors. This afternoon, we will hear more of Dr. Fersht, as well as a beautiful haftarah reading from Lynda Foster.

While I am thinking about it, a special shout-out to Ken Chambers who undertook to erect the synagogue sukkah (we still need to put on the skakh, the roof, and to decorate it), to Jack Howland and Paul Miller for getting everything set up and returned to the synagogue, and to Elaine Kleiger for making all the arrangements and for putting up with my craziness, and to her able assistant and partner, Steven Kleiger. I apologize for omitting anyone else who helped out – it really does take a village, and I can’t remember the names of all of our villagers – at least, not yet.

And that’s what I want to talk about today – how we make our little village a place that we all come to with open hearts and minds, and leave with hearts full of joy and caring for each other, and minds full of Jewish wisdom and knowledge. It is quite true, and I suppose perfectly obvious, that we cannot create such a place without the funds to operate it – that’s what Martin was talking about, and that’s why we passed out pledge cards on Rosh Hashanah and this morning. Money is great! But we also need you! We need each other, not just today, not just when the bills come due, but ALL THE TIME! Not only that, but we need, I want to suggest to you, Jews who are committed, well-versed, educated, in the traditions and observances of our people. The old Syms Clothing stores used to say, “An educated consumer is our best customer.” And I say, “An educated Jew is OUR best customer!”

In Judaism, we often use the word “practice”. What does it mean to practice Judaism? It means more, much more, than identity, and it means more than commitment. It’s easy to identify as a Jew – you just say so – “I’m a Jew!” As for commitment, it is more than mere identity; it implies a conviction. “I am committed to the survival of the Jewish people, therefore I support Israel, or I give to this Jewish charity or that.” This is good, and it is perhaps an aspect of practice, but in and of itself, commitment is NOT practice.

A few years ago, a fellow named Malcolm Gladwell wrote a book called “Outliers”. In it, he argued that the road to success, to genius, actually, was practice. 10,000 hours of guided, dedicated, intensive practice, he said, in any given endeavor, whether sports or music or a field of study, could make one an expert. There has been vigorous debate, among psychologists and other researchers, concerning the validity of the so-called “10,000 hour rule”. What about innate talent or physical characteristics? What about intellect? Can intense perseverance pay off, regardless of one’s starting point? It’s a bit of a nature versus nurture argument. Are you born with it? Or do you and your environment create your self? I think you get the idea.

So I have to wonder, does this notion of 10,000 hours come into play in Judaism? And I have concluded that it does, very significantly. Let me tell you why, and why it matters.

We have this belief, halakhic tradition really, that one is “born Jewish”. That is, if one’s birth mother is Jewish, one is a Jew – regardless of what one does in life – observe, not observe, even become a follower of another religion or another god! That is all true. But that mere happenstance of parentage conveys no special knowledge or skill – there is a birthright - nothing more.

We also have the idea that one can convert to Judaism – a process through which a non-Jew can willingly become a Jew through the rituals of milah, if a man, and tevilah, immersion in a mikvah, for both men and women. Under the supervision of a beit din, a court of three rabbis, these are technically all that are required of a convert. Take a bath, and you’re a Jew. And if you are a woman, your children born after that bath will be Jews – automatically.

But the truth is that we require a lot more of converts. Months, or even years of study; an actual forswearing of allegiance to any other religious beliefs and practices; an actual statement of commitment to Judaism and to the Jewish people – these and more are demanded of converts to Judaism. At the end, they are Jews – but are they any more or less Jewish than those born into the Jewish people?

No – they are the same – Jews who have obligations under our traditions to actually observe, to practice, Judaism. There is no Judaism without Jews – and there are no Jews without Judaism. A human being raised by wolves is still human – but is unable to behave like a human. It takes practice.

Your presence here today indicates at least a Jewish identity, a connection to something Jewish. Maybe it’s habit. You might be here for much more than that – commitment to a particular idea, that one must honor ones deceased relatives, for example, or that you must truly atone for your sins and errors of the past year – or years.

Isn’t that Jewish practice, you ask? Well, it is, if it is part of a continuing process of practice – part of those 10,000 hours Gladwell wrote about. Consider a conversation I had with the mother of a bar mitzvah student some years ago. When I asked why little Yankel was always late for Junior Congregation and Sunday school, she said, “He needs his rest. He works hard in school all week – especially during football season, because he plays for the team.” When I asked why little Yankel always left Junior Congregation and Sunday school early, she said it was so he could get home to watch football or to play football. So I asked, “Do you think Yankel has a future as a professional football player?” And she said, “Probably not. But he loves it so.” I said, “It’s good to have a passion – a bliss to follow, as Joseph Campbell put it. But even if he were at the top of the game, it could only be for a limited time. On the other hand, Yankel will be a Jew for his entire life – ‘til a hundred and twenty, God willing. Shouldn’t he put more time and energy into preparing for that life?” Ultimately, she agreed, and we saw much more of Yankel.

So it is with all of us. The more Judaism we learn and live and practice in our daily lives, the better at being Jews we will be – and the more meaningful and spiritually satisfying lives we will lead. It’s not hard to be a Jew – “shver tzu sein a yid” really doesn’t come into play anymore, not in this day and age, not in America, and certainly not in Israel. It’s easy to be a Jew – and fun! And meaningful! And satisfying! But only if you practice Judaism!

Think about it. Ten thousand hours is a full time job, 40 hours a week, for 5 years. That’s way intense! Or 5 hours a week – for 40 years! That’s simply ridiculous! But what about regular, steady learning and doing, in a community of like-minded people, striving to improve themselves and their communities and their world? What about Jews working together to create positive examples for their children, to create for them an inheritance that isn’t brought out just once a year, like fine silver, but one that is constantly used and becomes brighter through that use, like a well-oiled machine?

I am not standing here telling you that you must become shomer Shabbat, that you must keep kosher – though I would applaud you for doing so. What I am telling you is that if you think Judaism is worth having around, you must understand it well enough to know why you do or don’t do any particular aspect of it – and to teach your children, our children as well.

Today is the 100^th anniversary of Franz Rosenzweig’s return to Judaism – his teshuvah, if you will. Rosenzweig was a secular Jew who was planning to convert to Catholicism. But he reasoned that he ought to first understand what it was he was rejecting. So he went to a synagogue on Yom Kippur – and he never left Judaism after that. He went on to become one of the great Jewish philosophers and teachers of the 20^th century, founder of the Lehr Haus with Martin Buber, who taught a very simple lesson – when you are asked whether you currently engage in some particular Jewish tradition or ritual – don’t say “no” – say “not yet”. Give yourself the opportunity; you owe it to yourself really, to learn about it before you reject it. Knowledge, study, IS PART OF JEWISH PRACTICE – the most important part, I believe.

That is the village I want us to create together. Educated Jews are our best customers – our best Jews. That is what Beth Meier should be all about. My hometown newspaper long ago had on its front page a picture of a lighthouse and this quote: “give people light and they will find their way.” Isn’t that what our House of Light should be all about?

So, in order to assure that you become our best customers, our most enlightened Jews, pardon the pun, we are offering a number of opportunities for you to learn, and thereby become adept practitioners of Judaism.

Of course, we have Religious School and programs for our kids. And we will be having, later this fall we hope, a B’nai B’rith Youth chapter meeting at our synagogue for the teens. If you take a look at the pink sheets on the table in the back, you will see flyers for a beginning Hebrew class taught by two of our members, Lynda Foster and Deb Sigel. They have done this before, and I know how well it works. People who learned with them, and stayed with it and practiced, were in a few months able to learn and perform torah reading and haftarah reading. It’s not that hard – at any age! It requires only a basic skill set – and perseverance.

Also in October, I will be offering a twenty-session evening program called (Re)Introduction to Judaism, which is similar to a program for people preparing for conversion, but is equally appropriate for anyone who needs a refresher, or anyone who didn’t pay as much attention as they should have in Hebrew school or confirmation class, or anyone who simply wants to be part of an adult learning community with lively discussions. There’s always something new to learn in Judaism! I already have, and will continue to have, my weekly lunch and learn programs. And a trip to Israel next year, as I discussed on the second day of Rosh Hashanah, is nothing if not a jam-packed Jewish education! Yet, as the salesmen say, “But wait! There’s more!”

The “more” is that any of you with knowledge on a subject of Jewish interest who would like to teach about it, through a class or in a d’var torah at services, is welcome and encouraged to do so. That is also being part of a practicing, learning Jewish community – teaching and sharing knowledge!

See, you thought I was going to talk about Teshuvah, tefilah and tzedakah. And I am, actually. Because the only way you can understand those concepts and put them into practice, is through Jewish learning as part of a Jewish community.

The only time that it is truly “shver tzu sein a yid”, hard to be a Jew, is when one is ignorant of ones Judaism. It’s difficult to go on, isn’t it, when one doesn’t know why or how.

I wish for each of you a NOT a tzom kal, not an easy fast, but a tzom mashma’uti, a meaningful fast. And for all of us as well, I wish for a year of peace, happiness, and spiritual and intellectual growth.

So, that is MY appeal to you. Make the light happen.

Shabbat shalom. Shanah tovah.