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| Rabbi Cantor Alison Wissot |
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| Cantorial Soloist Mark Britowich |
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The Synagogue of Yesterday is not the Synagogue of Tomorrow
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The Synagogue of Yesterday is not the Synagogue of Tomorrow
Rosh Hashanah 2009/5770
A long, long time ago there was a King who was concerned about the legacy he would leave to the people of his town. He decided to build the community a magnificent new synagogue.
At long last the construction was finished and he was ready to show off the synagogue to the townspeople.
Early one bright summer morning they came into the building for the first time and marveled at the synagogue's magnificence. No one could ever remember so beautiful a synagogue anywhere in the world!
Then one of the townspeople asked, "Where are the lamps? What will provide the light?" Everyone looked around and, behold, nowhere in the entire building was a light or a lamp.
The king pointed out brackets that were placed all along the walls throughout the synagogue. He then gave each family a lamp.
"Whenever you come to the synagogue, I want you to bring your lamp and light it. When we are all here together, our synagogue will be illumined. But when you’re not here, your lamp will remind you that some part of our building will be dark. I have built for you the structure, but YOU must bring the light."
Temple Judea, and our new synagogue building, will be bright with lights! But those lights are the ones installed by our contractors. How many lights will be lit because of you, our congregants, bringing light to our temple?
When we look at synagogues today, we see that the synagogue world is changing, and it’s not changing for the better. Jews are not affiliating with synagogues. Jews who do affiliate too often don’t become lifelong members of their synagogue. Modern day Jews have changed. When people move to a community they explore a myriad of public and private school options; they sign up for AYSO and join a gym. And maybe, just maybe, they wonder – should they send their kids to Hebrew school? It’s clear that for most Jews today, and let’s be honest, for most members of Temple Judea, the model as it exists isn’t working.
The synagogue of today will not be the synagogue of tomorrow. I understand that we are all looking for convenience. However children who are only dropped off in a carpool line are robbed of something beautiful – sharing the Jewish tradition with their parents, with their families. Children who learn with private tutors in their living rooms are robbed of something important. Because they don’t remain members of synagogues, too many Jews today don’t stand on a Bimah with the rabbi who married their parents. They don’t receive the Torah from a rabbi who gave them their Hebrew name, wrapped them in Tefillin in Religious School, went skiing with them in Youth Group, or stood with them at the cemetery when their grandparent died. Too many Jews today stand under the Chupah with a stranger. And it’s just not right to be lead in Kaddish at the graveside of a loved one by a rabbi who doesn’t even know your name.
Many of you who are committed to life-long involvement with synagogue already understand this. If only we could clone you! And we especially hope for your help as we search for solutions that will ensure the future of the synagogue for the entire community, and thus ensure the future of Judaism. Of course the people who need to hear this sermon are not here tonight. Please share these words, please share this message with them.
We should be alarmed, however we needn’t fear. Change is part of our history. When the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, Jews were fearful that Judaism would come to an end. The rabbis of that time were brilliant. They replaced the centrality of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem with a Judaism based on the neighborhood synagogue so that peoples’ lives could be touched on a local level. It was this transformation that kept Judaism alive. Like the rabbis of the 2nd century, we stand at a transformational moment. For Judaism to remain vibrant in this new century, the synagogue too must change.
Temple Judea is primed and ready to move into the future. We’re quite fortunate that Temple Judea is a successful synagogue. Try to park in our parking lot any day of the week, not just on the High Holy Days, and you’ll see that we’ve achieved, what my teacher Rabbi Larry Hoffman likes to call the 3 B’s – we’re Big. We’re Busy. And we’re Boisterous. That’s good – and yes, we should be proud. It’s because of our success, of the 3 B’s, that we understand the need to build a new synagogue campus so that we can serve this bustling community. Yet we can do better. For our sakes, and for the sake of the future of the synagogue, we need to do better.
Rosh Hashanah reminds us that as Jews we must demand more from ourselves. You’re here today because on Rosh Hashanah your Jewish soul is awakened. And its here, in synagogue that your soul is fed. Because you’re here today, I invite you to be part of the solution, to move Judaism into the future, to help us transform this synagogue. Let me suggest to you today that by transforming Temple Judea you will benefit in a very personal way, and your commitment will lead to a vibrant future for Judaism. And so the challenge I pose for each of us and for our congregation in this New Year, and in the years to come, is to transform our synagogue into a sacred community which will touch souls, transform lives and build commitment, thus sustaining Judaism.
Our goal is to create a sacred community, something significantly different than our usual circle of friends. Our goal is to create a sacred community that touches our souls – that adds to the quality of our relationships, of our lives. I truly believe that the synagogue of the future, in order to remain vital, must have the power to touch your soul, to transform your life.
Judaism understands the basic human condition - human beings are not meant to be alone. We are in need of friends, of family and we are in need of community, the kind of community that only a synagogue can provide.
Our congregant, Abe, understands the power of synagogue to touch souls. When I see the joy in Abe’s eyes, I see the difference between a circle of friends and a sacred community. Abe’s life has been transformed by being a part of this community. When his wife was dying, he fell back on the tradition of his childhood. He came by himself to our Shabbat morning minyan to say a mishebayrach yet by the end of the service he was surrounded by a sacred community that joined him in prayer. When his wife died he wasn’t alone. He had many friends yet he also had a rabbi at her bedside. He had many friends yet it was the Temple minyan community that was there to say Kaddish. And now that he has found joy once again in his life, it was in this sacred community that he stood under the Chupah to celebrate his joy. A sacred community provides support at difficult and joyous moments. It’s great to be with friends, yet it’s only in a sacred community that our souls are touched.
The synagogue of the future must go even further. Beyond creating sacred community and touching souls it must build commitment to the world around us. It must teach us that as Jews our concern isn’t only for our own souls, it’s for the entire world.
While American society believes in community service, for us, for Jews, Tikkun Olam is a religious obligation. When we work to repair the world it’s because our role is to be partners with God in fixing our broken world. When we perform acts of Tikkun Olam, it’s because God, through Torah and the texts of our people over generations, has provided for us a blueprint, a vision of what our world should be like. And it’s only in synagogue that this religious vision is taught, that this mitzvah, this commandment, is instilled in us and in future generations. We must create a synagogue that models the importance of playing an active role in the larger community, a synagogue that compels us to fulfill our holy obligation to become partners with God in repairing our world.
We’re already heading in the right direction because here at Temple Judea we walk the talk. Because of Betty Neymark and Paula Cohen, together with many volunteers, our English as a Second Language program offers tutoring to hundreds of immigrants who flock to our Temple. Because of our Ethical Action Committee we build homes in Pacoima and in New Orleans. Our own Molly Pier, together with many of you, cooks meals for AIDS patients at Project Chicken Soup. And our Mitzvah Gourmet group, led by Sheila Linderman, fills our Temple’s freezers with tasty food we deliver to Temple families in times of need. All these activities are important because they help others and because they instill values in us. Our world needs vibrant synagogues that do God's work to help make the world a better place for everyone.
One of my favorite rabbis from the Talmud is Honi. When Honi was 70 years old he decided to plant fruit trees. As he was planting the saplings, the Roman emperor (always the village idiot in the Talmud!) happens by and laughs at Honi. “Why are you wasting your energy planting fruit trees old man? You’ll never enjoy the fruit of your labors.” Honi laughed right back at the emperor. “I care about the future. Just as my ancestors planted for me, so too I plant for the generations to come.”
As Jews who care about Judaism, our obligation is clear: we must plant seeds. The seeds we plant by creating a new model of synagogue life will enable us to carry on Judaism for ourselves and for generations to come.
And let’s be truly honest with each other. It’s not just the synagogue that needs to change. To become a sacred community that touches souls and creates commitment to the world, we need to change as well. Those of us who drop our kids off in carpool lines instead of creating opportunity for our own souls to be touched, do little to sustain Judaism. We profess to want Jewish children and grandchildren, yet our children see us - - our actions - and know that Judaism isn’t central to our lives. Those who opt for backyard Bnai Mitzvah services, or rabbis for hire, aren’t fooling our children. They know that we aren’t willing to commit to Judaism. Those of us who leave the synagogue after getting what we came for, after Nursery School or Bar Mitzvah, rather than becoming life-long members; those of us who show up only for High Holy Days, are receiving services, yet we aren’t sustaining Judaism. Souls aren’t being touched. We aren’t building commitment to God’s vision for our world, and we surely aren’t sustaining Judaism. Only by living a vibrant Jewish life can we ensure that our children and grandchildren will be Jewish. Only by ensuring the future of synagogues can we ensure another generation of Jewish life. As synagogues change to suit modern day Jews, so too must we change, ensuring that vibrant synagogues are filled with committed Jews.
We who care about Judaism must play a role in creating a new synagogue model for the future. In this New Year, and in the years to come, Temple Judea must aspire to become a place of relevance, where people will want to experience the joy of community and be inspired to live enduring Jewish values. Between a hectic home life and a pressured work environment, our synagogue will be the Jewish place where people renew their minds and spirits and create rewarding Jewish connections that are carried beyond the synagogue walls into our everyday lives.
In this coming year our focus, our energy at the Temple, along with our Legacy of building a new synagogue home for our future, will be to explore how to transform our community into one that transforms souls, creates commitment and thus keeps Judaism alive for future generations. How will we do this?
On Sukkot each of you, the entire congregation, is invited to the rabbis’ homes to sit in our Sukkah. This year, while we enjoy Sukkot, we will ask you to share with us your vision for your synagogue. We will ask you to help us transform Temple Judea into the synagogue of which you dream.
Today as you leave, we’ll be handing you an invitation with a few questions on it, so that you can prepare yourselves, so that our discussions in the Sukkah will be even more fruitful. The synagogue of the future will be empty, this conversation will be empty, our Sukkot will be empty, until you join us and reflect on your vision for the future of your synagogue.
In the Torah we read וְעָשֹוּ לִי מִקְדָּשׁ וְשָׁכַנְתִּי בְּתוֹכָם. God asks us to build a home for God, a מִקְדָּשׁ, so that God may dwell in our midst. Through our Legacy Project we are building a new מִקְדָּשׁ, a new home for God. Together let us build a community in which God and we will want to dwell, a sacred community filled with the lights that we will bring.
In the coming year our Legacy can be more than a new synagogue campus. While a new building is vital to our future, it will not solve the problems that Judaism faces in our modern world. Our legacy must be more than simply achieving the 3 B’s of Big, Busy and Boisterous. In this New Year, we will strive to achieve our own 3 B’s – we must be involved; we must be committed; we must be dedicated to our vision. On this Rosh Hashanah it’s clear that the time has come to transform synagogues from institutions that successfully provide for needs, into sacred communities that touch souls, build commitment to the world and thus sustain Judaism.
Ken Yihey Ratzon – May that be God’s Will. Amen.
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Transforming Synagogue - Rabbi Don Goor 5770.pdf
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