Monday, September 30, 2019

Stuck in the Thicket - Erev Rosh Hashanah, 5780


My Dear Friends,
L’shanah Tovah!
Tomorrow, at our Rosh HaShanah morning service, we will once again hear the stirring and disturbing story of the Binding of Isaac –the Akeydat Yitzchak.  Each year that we read this text, I try to find a new perspective to share with you.  This year, I want to approach it from the viewpoint of the unsung hero – or maybe a better title might be the victim – of our story:  The Ram that was sacrificed in place of Isaac.
Our text reads as follows: (Genesis 22:13)
Abraham lifted up his eyes and behold! his eye fell upon a ram, caught in the thicket by its horns. So, Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering in place of his son.
Jewish tradition has a lot to say about this particular animal.  One of the reasons that we blow the shofar on Rosh HaShanah is because the Ram took Isaac’s place on the sacrificial altar[i]. My question is: “How often do Rams get caught in thickets?”  Think about it: Rams are majestic animals.  They can leap from the tops of the highest mountains and tread on the narrowest of alpine paths. They are nimble, strong and agile. What could cause a Ram to get stuck?
The Mishnah teaches that the fact that it just “happened” to appear at the right time to replace Isaac was one of the miracles created by God in the last moments of creation.[ii]  That is one plausible answer, but it really isn’t all that satisfying.  There must be another reason that the ram was there.
I posed this question recently to colleagues at a Rocky Mountain Rabbinical Council retreat and the answer I was looking for came from our own Rabbi Hyatt.  She posited:
“Maybe the Ram’s horns were too big and unwieldy….it couldn’t see them, and, as a result, it got stuck!”
Thank you Rabbi Hyatt. What a perfect answer!
The Ram got stuck because it was in the way of itself!
I’m sure we all know people who fit into this category, don’t we? Men and women – perhaps even members of our own family who consistently make stupid mistakes, and are oblivious to what everybody else sees so very clearly…… 
I want to share a story with you about a Wise Man of Chelm. If you aren’t familiar with the legendary people of Chelm, the best way to describe them is that they are a mythical community of fools. There are hundreds of stories about their endearing naivete and buffoonery. And yet, since they all possessed the same characteristics, they lived happy lives – oblivious to their own foolishness.  Now this particular Chelmite was on a visit to Minsk and he joined a circle of kibitzers at a local inn. Seeing a stranger, the innkeeper tried to entertain him.  He put the following riddle to the Chelmite: 
"Who is it that is my father's son, yet he is not my brother?"
The Chelmite racked his brain for the answer, but in vain.
              "I Give up!" he said finally.  "Now tell me, who is it?"
              "Why it’s me!" cried out the innkeeper triumphantly!
              The Sage of Chelm was amazed by the cleverness of the riddle, and when he returned home, he lost no time in assembling all of the other Wise Men. 
              "My masters," he began gravely, stroking his long beard.  I am going to ask you a riddle and see if you can answer it:  Who is it that is my father's son, yet he's not my brother?"
              The Sages of Chelm were greatly perplexed.  They thought and thought and finally said: 
              "We Give up.  Tell us, who is it?"
              "It’s the innkeeper of Minsk!"  cried the sage, triumphantly!
We laugh, but the truth is, there is a little bit of Chelm in all of us. Sometimes we are so unaware of our own blind spots that we get stuck – literally and figuratively.
Many years ago, when our now 28-year-old daughter Elana was in Kindergarten, my wife, Sue made her a costume for the Purim carnival.  She was a Hamentashen. 

As you can see – she was very cute and delicious. She won first prize in the costume contest.  The only problem was that, as wonderful as her getup was – it was completely impractical and unwieldy.  She couldn’t sit down, fit through doorways or play any of the carnival games.  Like the ram caught in the thicket because of its horns, she couldn’t maneuver her way around obstacles and kept getting stuck. Eventually, we had to change her out of the costume so that she could enjoy the festivities.

At other times, our blind spots are less obvious – and sometimes they have more serious consequences. We are now all painfully aware of the inappropriate comments of Representative Ilhan Omar – who serves the district where Sue and I used to live in St. Louis Park, MN – who used anti-Semitic tropes about Jewish dual-loyalty and money in reference to the activities of AIPAC. Even though she eventually apologized, the fallout from her insensitivity is still quite damaging. Similarly, at a recent executive session of the Trenton, NJ City Council, Kathy McBride, the Democratic council president, used the phrase “Jew them down” - referring to the outcome of a lawsuit negotiated by a City Attorney – whose last name happened to be Cohen. Mcbride – and three other council members – when asked about the comment, at first dismissed it – saying that the term, “Jew Down” was not anti-Semitic.  It was merely a colloquialism that was common parlance – especially in the African American community – with which all of these particular council members were affiliated.  After news of the comment spread via the internet and national outrage ensued, her defenders changed their tone and apologized. McBride, after another day had passed, finally apologized as well[iii].

But prejudice, ignorance and blindness are not limited to words. 11 months ago, on October 27, 2018, a lone gunman walked into the Tree of Life Synagogue in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh and murdered 11 worshippers in cold blood. The gunman screamed out anti-Semitic slogans – among other things, shouting that Jews were responsible for illegal immigrants coming to our country. Exactly 6 months later – to the day, on the last day of Passover, in a Synagogue in Poway, CA, another racist and anti-Semitic gunman opened fire, killing one person and wounding 3 others – including the Rabbi.

There is no question that anti-Semitism is on the rise. We see it on both extremes of the political spectrum. While some of the troubling comments and actions we have witnessed in recent months have been said out of ignorance, others are very deliberate in their choice of words and the timing of their actions.

Those on the extreme Far Left tend to link anti-Semitism with Jewish oppression – usually in the form of anti-Zionism. They promote Boycott Divestment and Sanctions  - or BDS – and want to see the State of Israel destroyed. They work to paint Jews and Zionists as colonialists who ignore and abuse the civil rights of minorities in order to achieve their nefarious goals. Those on the Far Right utilize ancient stereotypes and conspiracy theories to justify their actions. Their hatred has little to do with Jewish practice or belief – they focus on our very existence. Those who marched in Charlottesville two years ago shouting, “Jews will not replace us!” believe that we are a source of evil that must be exposed, contained and, in the most extreme cases, destroyed. While the rhetoric from the Left has not yet manifested itself in violence against the Jewish Community, it is no less disturbing.

With the rise of Anti-Semitism that has been so clearly documented by the Anti-Defamation League, the FBI and other law enforcement agencies[iv], we also are facing a quandary within our own Jewish community. The need to upgrade security in every Jewish institution is a sad, but unfortunate necessity given the rise in violent rhetoric and all too often, acts of domestic terror that we have experienced over the last several years. While prudent use of security is an essential aspect of protecting ourselves from both the perceived and real threats that face us, it also can be isolating and expensive. Fear of the “other” all too often becomes a force that limits our ability to fully actualize the potentials of our institutions. We tend to “hunker down” and focus only on the threats that are becoming increasingly common in a society that grows more violent every day.
Obsessing about our own pain and fear can cause us to lose perspective. Like the Ram caught in the thicket, when we focus only on our security and safety, we are unable to see the rest of the world around us. We also lose opportunities for building essential alliances that can strengthen everyone.

A powerful truth that we need to recognize is that from suffering – redemption can and often does follow. We need to acknowledge that these moments of tragedy have also created moments of clarity. Who can forget the massive outpouring of support, love and solidarity that we experienced in our overflowing Sanctuary in the immediate aftermath of that tragic Shabbat morning in Pittsburgh? Representatives of law enforcement, Government officials, and leaders of the Christian, Muslim, Sikh, African American and so many other communities filled our pews, spilled into the aisles and overflowed into our foyer and social hall in a spontaneous and heartfelt demonstration of love and support for the Jewish community in our time of trauma.

When a tragic shooting occurred just a few weeks later in a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, members of the Jewish community again joined with interfaith, law enforcement, government and religious community leaders. We attended Friday prayers at the Denver Islamic Society and showed our love, solidarity and support. These events were powerful – but they were not enough.

My friends, as we enter into a New Year, I believe that it is vital that we commit ourselves to not only combat anti-Semitism, but that we also make a sincere and vigorous effort to acknowledge and strive to understanding our own prejudices and biases.
As Jews we have known the pain of prejudice and persecution. As a result of our own suffering, we also understand the importance of standing up for others who are oppressed.

In particular, I speak of our relationship with the African American community.

Historically, our Reform movement was in the forefront of the struggle for Civil Rights. In the 1950’s and 60’s Reform Rabbis, community leaders and congregants  – including our own Rabbi Foster - marched hand in hand with people of color throughout the South. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were drafted in the conference room of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism in Washington, DC – named after Kivie Kaplan – an active and committed Reform Jew who was a founder or the NAACP.
And yet, despite our history of activism and our ability to say the right things and be at the right places at the right times, despite our recent powerful expressions of support in the wake of tragedy, I believe that, in many ways, when it comes to understanding issues of race today, many of us are like the Ram caught in the thicket – unable to extricate ourselves from the gordian knot of fear and mistrust that plagues our society.  What further complicates issues is that fact that, although we, as Jews, have been the recipients of hatred and racism, most of the members of our Jewish community are not people of color. Our White Privilege is very real – whether we choose to see it or not.
In addition, recently, there have been many unfortunate incidents of miscommunication and discomfort between communities of color and the Jewish Community. From the anti-Zionist statements in the Black Lives Matter platform, to the incidents I referred to earlier in the Trenton State Legislature and the comments of Representative Omar, the potential for conflict and tension is very real.
This past August marked the 400th anniversary of the arrival in Virginia of the first captive African slaves who were brought to the New World in chains and misery. The painful and ugly truth about American success is that much of it was earned through the suffering and torture of innocents:  human beings who were callously bought and sold as commodities. While the horror of sanctioned slavery officially ended on April 9, 1865 at Appomattox, the legacy of prejudice that it spawned is still felt today – although it is easy to deny its impact. The ugly and uncomfortable reality of White privilege is that, while we may be intellectually aware of our history of racial injustice, we do not have to live with it on a daily basis.
In a recent article in HaAretz, my friend and colleague, Rabbi David Stern - past President of the Central Conference of American Rabbis and Sr. Rabbi of Temple Emanu-El of Dallas, TX writes:
“…Here are the truths which defy simple answers: that a white teenager and a black teenager see the symbol of a police cruiser through radically different lenses related to dramatically different experiences, and that you dress those same two kids in the same hooded sweatshirt, and they will receive radically different reactions.” 
He continues:
“…The involvement of Jews in the civil rights movement fifty years ago does not grant us a free pass today. As Jews, we will need to expand our circle of prophets — because the voices of Jeremiah and Amos are carried forward in our day by writer/activists like Ta-Nehisi (Ta-Ne-HAH-see) Coates and Bryan Stevenson.   
Instead, the God who heard the cry of the oppressed requires us to listen — to narratives of racism, to exposures of white privilege and educational inequities and mythic meritocracies. We do not need to agree with everything we hear, but we need to hear it. And when that hearing produces pain, then we need to feel it. And if that pain motivates us to create a more just and safe society instead of silencing the truths that disturb us, we will know that we have broken through the silence towards hope. The books of the Hebrew prophets are fundamental to our identity as Jews, but they do not make good bedtime reading. This healing will sting before it salves[v].”
My Dear Friends previous attempts at Temple Emanuel to understand and confront our own fears and prejudices have been underwhelming. This must change.
We live in a time and a place where the separations in our society are becoming increasingly paralyzing. The political, religious, racial and ideological chasms we have created are amplified through technology and Social Media. The more removed we are from one another, the more those who profit from fear and mistrust are successful. We owe it to ourselves and our souls to unpack and uncover the root causes of our divisions and, in the process of doing so, find pathways to healing and partnership that can only serve to strengthen one another.
It is for this reason that we, at Temple Emanuel, are starting an important initiative entitled:

Racial Equity from the Inside Out


The main objective of this initiative is to identify, explore and understand the culture of racism that has existed in our country for the past 400 years. Some of the concrete goals of this process are:

  • To increase racial literacy among and within our congregation.
  • To create a congregational culture of commitment to ongoing learning about race and racism – personally, inter personally, institutionally and structurally
  • To support Jewish communal health and integrity through engagement in anti-racist work
  • To address the complexity around Jewish identity and oppression, racism and anti-Semitism

There will be several components of this initiative. The first will take place at a workshop tomorrow morning at 11:15 – which is concurrent with our 2nd Rosh Hashanah morning service – (plan accordingly). We have engaged the services of two facilitators - Debbie Zucker and the Reverend Dr. Amy Rowland  - both of whom have extensive experience working with congregations around the city in exploring the role that Racism and White Privilege play in our lives.
The second component will be a 6-week intensive series of conversations with a pre-selected, small group of congregants who will explore the history, impact and consequences of how racial identity and prejudice have impacted our nation, our institutions and our community. We are currently compiling a list of interested members.  This will be an invitation-only group – but if you are interested in learning more about this, please contact me at Temple and I will add your name to the list. I can’t guarantee that you will be chosen for this particular set of conversations, but I want to know those who wish to participate. We will be creating other opportunities to get involved in both the open, congregational workshops and the next round of small group experiences once these pilot programs have taken place.

The path to understanding is long, winding and sometimes difficult. There will be times when we, like that Ram on Mount Moriah, might get stuck in the thicket of our fears. This does not mean that we should refrain from our holy work, however. We are deeply committed to seeing it through.
The Brazillian Author, Paulo Coelho (Kwell-jew) de Souza wrote the following:
A Rabbi gathered all of her students together and asked:
How do we know the exact moment when night ends and day begins?
A student raised his hand and began:
“It is when, standing some way away, you can tell a goat from a lamb, then the night is over and the day has begun.”
The rabbi was unmoved, she waited for another student to join in the discussion.
Another brave soul jumped in:  “No, it is when you can tell an olive tree from a fig tree.”
“No,” said the rabbi. ‘The night is over and the day begins when a stranger approaches and we recognize him as our brother. That is the exact moment when night ends and the day begins.” [vi]

My friends, as we enter into this New Year, let us do so with a will to make change – to see the holiness and humanity implanted within all of God’s Creation.  May we strive to get “unstuck” from the many pitfalls and snares that lie in our path.
May 5780 be a year of growth, of hope, of healing and promise.
AMEN L’Shanah Tovah Tikateyvu!





[i] Talmud, Rosh HaShanah 16a.  Rabbi Abbahu said: Why does one sound a blast with a shofar made from a ram’s horn on Rosh HaShana? The Holy One, Blessed be He, said: Sound a blast before Me with a shofar made from a ram’s horn, so that I will remember for you the binding of Isaac, son of Abraham, in whose stead a ram was sacrificed, and I will ascribe it to you as if you had bound yourselves before Me.
[ii] Mishnah Avot, 5:8

Sunday, September 22, 2019

The Four Weeks of Elul 5779. Week Four: Our Physical Selves




Dear Friends,

50 years ago, at a Music and Art Festival on Max and Miriam Yazgur’s farm in Woodstock, New York, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young sang Joni Mitchell’s beautiful lyrics that defined a generation and its philosophy:

“We are stardust
Billion year old carbon
We are golden
Caught in the devil's bargain
And we've got to get ourselves
back to the garden.”

I have always been both haunted and hypnotized by these words. The brilliance of Joni’s lyrics and music has always been her ability to encapsulate complex ideas in sparse phrases. To state that the building blocks of our bodies are “Stardust” and “Billion Year Old Carbon” is to acknowledge that the Universe is fashioned from the same primordial material. Everything and everyone are intertwined.

When we think about our bodies, all too often we try to separate our corporeality from our spirituality. And yet, the more we learn about the world in which we live and the more secrets of the Universe we uncover through the study of physics and chemistry, it becomes difficult to find the border between our physical, emotional, and spiritual selves: everything is connected.

We know that when we eat healthy foods, maintain a regimen of regular exercise and get enough sleep, we feel better about ourselves and the world around us. As a result, we can appreciate God’s Creation with clearer eyes and mind. In this light, focusing on our physical selves is a prerequisite for understanding and experiencing every other aspect of our lives.

With this in mind, I offer the following questions for this last week of Elul:


1.    Have I taken care of my body through diet and exercise?
2.    Have I prepared medical directives that are clear and unambiguous stating my desires for illness and end-of-life issues?
3.    Have I done all that I could to comfort those around me who are affected by illness – have I performed the mitzvah of Bikkur Cholim – visiting the sick?
4.    How much stress am I experiencing?  Is it affecting the way I live my life?
5.    What bad habits have I cultivated that I need to change?
6.    Have I been avoiding going to the doctor, dentist or other health care professionals due to fear of what I might discover?
7.    Have I been supportive of efforts to provide health care to those who cannot afford it in my community?
Again - these questions are in no way complete.  They are designed to help all of us to begin the process of looking deep within ourselves and our souls as we enter the month of Elul. Some of them are repeated from previous years. Again, we want to hear from you. If you have thoughts, questions or comments about anything, we encourage you to let us know. Feel free to contact any of the Clergy at Temple if you want to explore any of these questions further. These questions will also be posted on my blog, the Temple Emanuel website (www.emanueldenver.org), and our Facebook page. I also encourage you to attend the “4 Weeks of Elul Study Sessions” every Thursday afternoon from 5:30-6:30 at Temple.  There one class left – this Thursday afternoon. You don’t have to come to every class to find them meaningful.

We look forward to seeing you at Rosh HaShanah Services beginning this Sunday night.  For a listing of all of the High Holy Day options at Temple, go to this linkhttps://www.emanueldenver.org/high-holy-days/welcome

May you utilize these and all your questions to help you gain a better understanding of your spiritual selves.

L’Shanah Tovah,

Rabbi Joseph R. Black

Saturday, September 14, 2019

The Four Weeks of Elul 5779: Week Three – Our Spiritual Selves

Dear Friends,

Several years ago, Sue and I joined a group of friends on a 7-day rafting trip through the Grand Canyon. The experience of travelling through this majestic place was both overwhelming and life-changing. It evoked simultaneous feelings of uniqueness and insignificance that has shaped my view of both time and space to this very day.

All the travelers on that tiny raft shared in the knowledge that we were incredibly fortunate to be able to traverse through this ancient wilderness. We felt blessed and special to be able to see it from the bottom up: reveling in both the power and beauty of God’s creation. At the same time, the sheer magnitude of this wonder of nature that was carved into the earth’s crust over millions of years – drop by drop through the power of the water that flowed through it - made us feel very small and inconsequential. Our brief sojourn in the shadows of the canyon’s walls was nothing more than a blip in time in comparison to the enormity of what we were experiencing.

Rabbi Simcha Bunam of Pzhysha was reported to have taught the following: "Everyone must have two pockets, so that he can reach into the one or the other, according to his needs. In his right pocket are to be the words: 'For my sake was the world created,' and in his left: 'I am nothing but dust and ashes.'" In this way, we can strive to keep ourselves in balance. When we are feeling overwhelmed by the many forces in our lives that force us to question our meaning and purpose, we should reach into our right pocket and see just how fortunate we are to have been given the gift of life. The fact that we are lucky enough to experience daily life reminds us to make the most of every second given to us by our Creator.

At the same time, however, during those times when we allow our ego-driven selves to gain ascendance; when we are full of pride and self-confidence, we should reach into our left pockets and remind ourselves of our frailty and mortality.

Coming to terms with our spiritual selves means that we need to be cognizant of the delicate balance between the dual feelings of uniqueness and insignificance. Judaism’s insistence on ritual and daily spiritual practice can help us to balance ourselves as we traverse the sometimes-treacherous waters of the rivers of our lives.

With this awareness in mind, I offer the following questions for the third week of Elul that deal with our spiritual selves:

  1.  Have I been able to balance the ups and downs of daily living and see them from the perspective of something larger than myself?
  2. What events have caused me to question my faith during the course of the past year?
  3. When/where was the last time I felt close to God (however I define God)…?
  4. How often, during the past year, have I been able to set aside my own needs for something bigger than myself?
  5. Jewish tradition teaches that all of us are created in the Divine Image. When was the last time I looked for holiness in the people that I love the most?
  6. When was the last time I was able to pray without any distraction?
  7. How many times, over the course of this past year, have I taken the time to give thanks for the gift of my life?

Again - these questions are in no way complete. They are designed to help all of us to begin the process of looking deep within ourselves and our souls as we enter the month of Elul. Some of them are repeated from previous years. Again, we want to hear from you. If you have thoughts, questions or comments about anything, we encourage you to let us know. Feel free to contact any of the Clergy at Temple if you want to explore any of these questions further. These questions will also be posted on my blog, the Temple Emanuel website (http://www.emanueldenver.org) and our Facebook page. I also encourage you to attend the “4 Weeks of Elul Study Sessions” every Thursday afternoon from 5:30-6:30 at Temple. There are two classes left. You don’t have to come to every class to find them meaningful.

May you utilize these and all your questions to help you gain a better understanding of your spiritual selves.

L’Shanah Tovah,
Rabbi Joseph R. Black

Saturday, September 7, 2019

The Four Weeks of Elul - 5779: Week Two – Personal and Professional Relationships.




My Dear Friends,

July 1st marked the beginning of my 10th year as your Senior Rabbi.  It is hard to believe that so much time has passed since Sue, Ethan and I left Albuquerque to come to Denver. (Our daughter, Elana, was a sophomore in College out of state at the time.) We feel truly blessed to be part of this Kehillah Kedosha (sacred community). One of the ways that we mark the passage of time is to reflect on the relationships that we have forged and lost. I have been a rabbi for over 32 years. This means that I now find myself in the blessed position of being able to perform the weddings of the children of couples I married when I was a newly minted Rabbi. I also have had the difficult task of burying dear friends who I have met over the years. Each person with whom we connect becomes a touchstone along the path of our lives.

Truly, it is the relationships we create that give our lives beauty, depth, meaning and purpose. In the book of Genesis, when Adam was created in the Garden of Eden, God said: “It is not good for humans to be alone.” (Genesis 2:18). Indeed, it is possible to state that the entire Torah is a guidebook for strengthening and maintaining relationships – those between humans and God, and those between ourselves and others as well.

Our tradition teaches that on Yom Kippur the sins we have committed against God will be forgiven if we are truly repentant. The sins we commit against others, however, cannot be forgiven unless and until we have asked those whom we have wronged to forgive us.   In many ways, this is one of the most difficult aspects of Cheshbon Ha-nefesh – taking an inventory/accounting of our souls.  It means that we have to take risks by reaching out to others.  We may encounter resistance, anger, or resentment.  Sometimes it is impossible to reach out to others – and yet, it is our duty to do all that we can to assess whether or not reconciliation is possible.  If there is even the slightest hope then we need to try - even if we fail.

Each of us is involved in many kinds of relationships – from families and loved ones, to work associates, to acquaintances we see only occasionally.  Our tradition teaches that every person with whom we come in contact helps us to understand the profound truth that all humanity is created in the image of God.  As such, all our interactions with others – from the most intimate to the merely mundane – contain the potential for holiness.  If we approach them from this perspective, then maintaining healthy relationships takes on a sacred dimension.

The following questions are designed to make us think about the current status of the many different relationships in our lives. Again, this is by no means a complete list.  Hopefully it will provide you with a starting point for strengthening the relationships in your lives.

1.      Have I set aside time to let the most important people in my life know how much I care about them?
2.      Have I taken part in any business or personal transactions this past year that were against my religious, moral or ethical principles?
3.      Have I done all that I could to repair damaged relationships in my life?
4.      Have I ignored or been impatient with those I love the most?
5.      Are there people I have wronged that I need to ask to forgive me?
6.      Will I be able to forgive those who come to me to ask for my forgiveness?
7.      Are there people that I need to forgive who will not acknowledge that they have hurt me? (This is, perhaps, the most difficult question of all…)

Again - these questions are in no way complete.  They are designed to help all of us to begin the process of looking deep within ourselves and our souls as we enter the month of Elul. Some of them are repeated from previous years. Again, we want to hear from you. If you have thoughts, questions or comments about anything, we encourage you to let us know. Feel free to contact any of the Clergy at Temple if you want to explore any of these questions further. These questions will also be posted on my blog, the Temple Emanuel website (www.emanueldenver.org) , and our Facebook page. I also encourage you to attend the “4 Weeks of Elul Study Sessions” every Thursday afternoon from 5:30-6:30 at Temple.  Last week was our first class and was filled with eager and joyous learners. You don’t have to come to every class to find them meaningful.

May you utilize these and all your questions to help you gain a better understanding of your personal and professional relationships.

L’Shanah Tovah,

Rabbi Joseph R. Black





Monday, September 2, 2019

The Four Weeks of Elul 5779. Week One: Our Communal Selves


My Dear Friends,

For the first time in a long time, the first day of the Hebrew month of Elul is also the 1st day of the secular month of September. It is customary during this holy month that precedes the High Holidays to begin intensive personal preparations for the New Year. This process, called Cheshbon Ha-Nefesh – an inventory of our souls – requires that each of us engage in a process of self-examination. During this sacred season we look closely at our relationships, thoughts, deeds, fears and dreams. We do this so that we can enter into the Yamim Noraim– the Days of Awe – spiritually and personally refreshed and prepared for the process of teshuvah(repentance/returning). Our tradition teaches that the month of Elul compels us to ask those around us whom we have wronged to forgive us for our actions if we have wronged them. We are also commanded to forgive those who ask us as well.

As we reflect back over the past year, it is important that we put every aspect of our lives into perspective. As is my tradition, during the month of Elul, I will be sending out weekly lists of seven questions (one for each day of the week) to members of our community and to all who wish to receive them. These questions are designed to help us examine our lives in all of the varied aspects and arenas in which we live: Communal, Interpersonal, Spiritual and Physical. Hopefully, by answering these questions we will be better prepared to enter into the New Year. The purpose of these questions is not to make us feel bad or unworthy, but rather to “nudge” us into looking at these vitally important aspects of our lives. There will be seven questions in each list – one for every day of the week.  In addition, I also will be teaching a class that corresponds to each list on Thursday evenings from 5:30 to 6:30.  Our first class will be this Thursday, September 5th.

I welcome your comments and suggestions for additional questions and formats that we can use. If answering these questions causes you to want to speak to one of the Temple Clergy, Cantor Sacks, Rabbi Hyatt, Rabbi Baskin and I would welcome the opportunity. These emails will also be posted on my blog and linked to both the Temple website and Facebook page. If you know of anyone else who might want to receive these mailings – whether or not they are members of the congregation - please contact the Temple office and we will be happy to send them out.

Week One: Communal Selves

Once again, we are about to conclude a year that, like the year that preceded it, has been filled with controversy. We have witnessed political and social tensions which have divided our nation around topics such as Immigration, Foreign Policy, Racial Prejudice, Gun Violence, Women’s Rights, Freedom of the Press, Climate Change, LGBTQ rights, and basic civil discourse. We have seen a rise in acts of violence. Mass murder is part and parcel of the landscape of our nation. The gridlock in Congress has served as a backdrop for feelings of futility and hopelessness as our nation appears to be losing our place as a source of strength and moral clarity.

Jewish tradition teaches that one of the most important bulwarks against despair is a strong and dynamic community. It is in the context of community that we can find meaning and purpose when we see the chaos swirling around us. But a healthy and strong community is not a given. We are responsible to creating, sustaining and supporting our community. Most of us live in many different communities. It is my hope that Temple Emanuel is or will be a central part of your communal experience and expression.

The following are a questions designed to help us explore our communal selves as we begin the process of Cheshbon Hanefesh:
  1. Have I allowed my political perspectives to color my relationships with those with whom I disagree?
  2. How have I helped sustain my congregation and community during the year? Have I given all that I could in terms of my time? My resources? My experience?
  3. Have I taken advantage of all that my congregation and community have to offer?
  4. Have I taken my own comfort for granted and “looked the other way” when I saw poverty or despair in my community?
  5. Regardless of political perspective, have I been vocal in my support of the State of Israel?
  6. When I am at synagogue, have I done all that I can to make others feel welcomed in the same way that I want to feel welcome?
  7. Have I explored ways to address the conflict and tension that have become commonplace in everyday discourse?

These questions are in no way complete.  They are designed to help all of us to begin the process of looking deep within ourselves and our souls as we enter into the month of Elul. Some of them are repeated from previous years. Again, we want to hear from you. If you have thoughts, questions or comments about anything we encourage you to let us know.

May you utilize these and all your questions to help you gain a better understanding of your communal selves.

L’Shanah Tovah,

Rabbi Joseph R. Black