Sermon for Yom Kippur morning 5780

October 9, 2019

The program booklet you have in front of you includes a brief overview of the Yom Kippur liturgy. And I wrote a similar overview in the program booklet for Rosh Hashanah that we distributed last week. I hope you have found these useful. In previous years I had gotten feedback that people wanted me to provide this sort of information from the bima. Frankly, I had often found that when I did do that it disrupted the flow of the service. So, this year, instead of talking a lot from the bima about the structure of the services, I thought I would rather put it all down in writing for you to peruse at your leisure.

In any event, when I decided to write those liturgical overviews for the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur program flyers it seemed very clear to me that the first thing I should write about was the Shema, and, in particular, the first line of the Shema.

So much is wrapped up into that one Biblical verse, Deuteronomy Chapter 6, verse 4:

SHEMA YISRAEL ADONAI ELOHEINU ADONAI ECHAD

You’ve got your dynamic between the two names for the Deity -- ADONAI (which the sages say represents divine compassion and mercy) and ELOHIM (which the sages say represents divine judgment and justice). And that dichotomy prompts all of us to reflect on how those values should be balanced in our own lives.

(HINT: When in doubt, opt for compassion….)

And you’ve got your dynamic between universalism and particularism:

On the one hand, the monotheism proclaimed in the Shema is the epitome of universality: There is only One God : One God who has created all of existence including our one home planet and our one human species.

We --- the global “we” --- are all in this together.

Or as Rabbi Maurice Eisendrath, who for some three decades was the President of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (as the Union for Reform Judaism used to be known), expressed it (and please excuse the dated language which is not as explicitly inclusive as we would express it today):

“Judaism gave mankind its first civil rights program. It was expressed in the Sh’ma, the watchword of the Jewish faith: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.” As God is one, mankind is one, for each is created equally in the image of God.” (See https://rac.org/shma-vahavta)

But on the other hand, there is also the particularist aspect of the Shema.

For that first line of the Shema is not addressed to all humanity but rather, to one particular subset of humanity, i.e. our particular subset of humanity. As it says:

Shema YISRAEL – Listen Israel, Listen Jewish people – Moses is saying -- I’m talking to YOU --- YISRAEL -- in particular!

All humanity are brothers and sisters, all humanity shares in the responsibility to take care of this one precious world in which we live.

But you, Israel – or –when we recite the Shema ourselves let’s make that – WE Israel – we the Jewish people – have a bond with one another, have a common history, have a common destiny, have --- God willing – a common purpose.

Why are we Jews dispersed among all the other nations of the world?

From a purely non-theological perspective, we can blame the persecutions of one ancient empire after another and one modern nation-state after another. And we can also factor in the various economic push and pull factors that have informed mass migrations of millions from ancient times to the present day.

During the rabbinic and medieval periods, the dominant philosophical view among our people was to put the blame on ourselves for being tossed and buffeted about the world.

A classic line in the traditional liturgy declares --- umipnei chata’einu galinu mey’artzenu --- “because of our sins we were exiled from our land.”

That theological claim has been expunged from Reform and Reconstructionist machzorim and siddurim. As theologically liberal Jews we generally do not buy into that “blame the victim” mentality when it comes to our people’s history of exile and dispersion.

A more optimistic view regarding the nature of the diaspora takes as its starting point Biblical verses like those found in the second half of the book of Isaiah.

Addressing the Judean exiles in Babylonia after the Destruction of the First Temple in the sixth century BCE, Isaiah 42:6 proclaims:

אֲנִ֧י יְ-ה-וָ֛-ה קְרָאתִ֥יךָֽ בְצֶ֖דֶק וְאַחְזֵ֣ק בְּיָדֶ֑ךָ וְאֶצָּרְךָ֗ וְאֶתֶּנְךָ֛ לִבְרִ֥ית עָ֖ם לְא֥וֹר גּוֹיִֽם׃

I the Eternal have called you in righteousness. And I have grasped you by the hand. I created you, and appointed you a covenant people, a light of nations—

And Isaiah 49:6 proclaims in similar fashion:

וּנְתַתִּ֙יךָ֙ לְא֣וֹר גּוֹיִ֔ם לִֽהְי֥וֹת יְשׁוּעָתִ֖י עַד־קְצֵ֥ה הָאָֽרֶץ

I will make you a light of nations so that My salvation may reach the ends of the earth.

The early leaders of Reform Judaism drew richly on this vein of tradition in seeing the dispersion of Jews around the world as a blessing rather than a curse – for they saw the Jewish mission as that of being exemplars to the world of ethical living.

A light unto the nations if you will.

And so, in the 1885 Pittsburgh Platform the rabbis of the Reform movement resolved:

“We recognize, in the modern era of universal culture of heart and intellect, the approaching of the realization of Israel's great Messianic hope for the establishment of the kingdom of truth, justice, and peace among all men. We consider ourselves no longer a nation, but a religious community, and therefore expect neither a return to Palestine, nor a sacrificial worship under the sons of Aaron, nor the restoration of any of the laws concerning the Jewish state.”[1]

The upheavals of the 20th century sufficed to convince Reform Judaism to modify this stance. In the Principles of Reform Judaism platform adopted in that same city of Pittsburgh a century later in 1999, the Central Conference of American Rabbis movement did still affirm the global mission of Judaism. The 1999 Pittsburgh Platform declares:

We are Israel, a people aspiring to holiness, singled out through our ancient covenant and our unique history among the nations to be witnesses to God’s presence. […]

In other words, the universalistic notion of Israel being “a light unto the nations,” a mission that our very dispersion could help us to fulfill.

But this time around, the 1999 Pittsburgh document now also embraced the idea of the importance of the nationalist aspect of Jewish identity:

As it stated:

“We are committed to (Medinat Yisrael), the State of Israel, and rejoice in its accomplishments. We affirm the unique qualities of living in (Eretz Yisrael), the land of Israel, and encourage (aliyah), immigration to Israel.

We are committed to a vision of the State of Israel that promotes full civil, human and religious rights for all its inhabitants and that strives for a lasting peace between Israel and its neighbors.

We are committed to promoting and strengthening Progressive Judaism in Israel, which will enrich the spiritual life of the Jewish state and its people.

We affirm that both Israeli and Diaspora Jewry should remain vibrant and interdependent communities. As we urge Jews who reside outside Israel to learn Hebrew as a living language and to make periodic visits to Israel in order to study and to deepen their relationship to the Land and its people, so do we affirm that Israeli Jews have much to learn from the religious life of Diaspora Jewish communities.”[2]

What a difference a century makes!

Meanwhile, our liturgy --- in all its versions – Orthodox, Conservative, Reconstructionist and Reform – still includes a poetic vision about the centrality of the Land of Israel. I started this sermon by talking about the importance of the Shema. But in any siddur or machzor the paragraph immediately prior to the Shacharit recitation of the Shema includes this ancient hope:

וַהֲבִיאֵנוּ לְשָׁלום מֵאַרְבַּע כַּנְפות הָאָרֶץ. וְתולִיכֵנוּ קומְמִיּוּת לְאַרְצֵנוּ

“Bring us in peace from the four corners of the earth and lead us with upright pride to our land.”

--------------------------

In recent years the interdependent relationship between the diaspora Jewish community and the State of Israel has come under increasing attack and challenge. There are some Jews today, even including some rabbis, who no longer identify themselves as Zionists. Who no longer see the value and necessity of the existence of a Jewish State in our people’s ancestral, indigenous homeland.

And so, I am glad that, at present, both the Reform and Reconstructionist movements still embrace the ideals of a progressive Zionism -- notwithstanding some outlying voices of dissent on the margins.

ARZA, the Association of Reform Zionists of America, defines its mission statement like this:

“ARZA strengthens and enriches the Jewish identity of Reform Jews in the United States by ensuring that a connection with the Land, People, and State of Israel are fundamental parts of that identity.”

ARZA is the representative voice for American Reform Jews in the elections to the World Zionist Congress, which take place every five years. And the Reconstructionist Movement, which endorsed and partnered with the ARZA slate for the 2015 elections to the World Zionist Congress, is doing so again for next year’s World Zionist Congress election.

More information about how we can exercise our right to vote in the 2020 World Zionist Congress election will be forthcoming soon. But if you want to get a sneak peek into all this just visit www.arza.org.

Meanwhile, in June of this year, the Reconstructionist movement became one of the founding organizational members of the “Progressive Israel Network” --- along with such other Progressive Zionist organizations as Americans for Peace Now, J Street, the Jewish Labor Committee, the New Israel Fund and T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights.

The constituent organizations of the “Progressive Israel Network” have adopted the following list of principles:

Grounded in our Jewish and democratic values, the Progressive Israel Network calls to action all those who are committed to Israel’s future as the national homeland of the Jewish people and as a democracy that lives in peace and security with its neighbors.
We are inspired by Israel‘s Declaration of Independence – establishing a state “based on freedom, justice, and peace,” that ensures “complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants, irrespective of religion, race, or sex.”
We are alarmed by the threats to that vision from the increasingly extreme actions, policies, and ideology of the Israeli far-right with cover provided by its supporters in the Diaspora.
Our commitment is to peace for Israel and its neighbors – through a two-state solution to the long and destructive conflict with the Palestinians and an end to the occupation and the expansion of settlements.
Our commitment is to Israel’s security – understanding the many and real security threats Israel faces and that Israel does not bear sole responsibility for its conflict with the Palestinians or other regional powers.
Our commitment is to democracy and the rule of law – believing that all citizens of Israel must be treated equally, and their civil and human rights protected.
Our commitment is to religious pluralism – and the belief that all forms of Jewish practice deserve equal protection and recognition in the state of the Jewish people.
Our values and our commitments make us proudly progressive and proudly pro-Israel and speak for the majority of Jews around the world.
We call on Jews who share our values to join us as we work to shape opinion, policy and discourse.
Together, let’s ensure that the Israel we leave to future generations best reflects the values and traditions we have inherited from those who’ve come before.[3]

I’ll be attending the J Street national conference in Washington, DC the end of this month where I’m really looking forward to learning more about how we can act to further these principles. And I’m looking forward to helping to bring these messages to our representatives and senators during the lobbying day on Capitol Hill which will also be part of the scheduled activities of the J Street conference.

And I’m really excited that our program committee is bringing here to Temple Israel on Sunday, November 3rd, the Israeli writer and activist Hen Mazzig, who will be speaking on the theme: “On Being a Liberal, Gay, Person of Color, a Progressive and a Zionist."

[NOTE: At this point, I gave a couple of shout-outs by name to specific members of the congregation who will be visiting Israel in the coming weeks and months. — DS]

And I really encourage any and all of you to experience Israel in person if you are at all able to do so. It will strengthen your Jewish identity and help you to understand how our communities are intertwined.

Here comes the caveat now:

Just as American political life right now is stymied by partisan gridlock, so is Israeli political life.

And in both of our countries, the forces of extremism threaten fundamental national values.

But as the Union for Reform Judaism’s immediate Past President, Rabbi Eric Yoffie wrote last year in Haaretz, Reform Jews “must be the voice of the sensible center.”[4]

(and I would add, that goes for Reconstructionist Jews as well, as well as any of us who support a Progressive Zionist outlook)

Whatever you may think of the strength of the Trump administration’s support for Israel or the strength of the Obama administration’s support for Israel before it, and whoever ends up occupying the White House come January 2021 --- it remains critical for the American Jewish community to remain steadfast in our support for the security of the State of Israel – and for the American Jewish community to remain steadfast in our commitment to the creation of an independent Palestinian state existing peacefully alongside Israel.

Our brothers and sisters in Israel need our support and advocacy – and our involvement and our critique.

American foreign policy will always be transactional to a certain extent.

Ask the Kurds.

Ask the Ukrainians.

And so, as we gather in synagogue today and recall the ancient rites of Jerusalem of old let us remember to keep in mind the Jerusalem of today.

As the psalmist reminds us:

אִֽם־אֶשְׁכָּחֵ֥ךְ יְֽרוּשָׁלִָ֗ם תִּשְׁכַּ֥ח יְמִינִֽי׃

If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither; let my tongue stick to my palate if I cease to think of you, if I do not keep Jerusalem in mind even at my happiest hour.[5]

May we, and all Israel, and all humanity, be blessed with peace and justice and reconciliation bimheyrah veyameinu/ speedily in our days.

And may we do our part in making it so.

Gmar chatimah tovah ve tzom-kal / A good final sealing and any easy fast.

Amen.

Tishri 5780/ October 2019

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsburgh_Platform

[2] https://www.ccarnet.org/rabbinic-voice/platforms/article-statement-principles-reform-judaism/

[3] https://www.progressiveisrael.org/progressive-israel-network-launched/

[4] https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-what-on-earth-can-rabbis-say-about-israel-this-rosh-hashana-1.6433074

[5] Psalms 137:5-6