Saturday, September 19, 2020

Passing the Test - Rosh HaShanah Morning 5781

My Dear Friends,

Every year, when we read the story of the Akeda - the binding of Isaac, I am struck by the power of the narrative. No word is wasted, every nuance, every action, every moment is carefully choreographed to heighten the drama, the emotion, the energy and the terror of the events being described. Once again we listened to the story of God's asking Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac – read and chanted so beautifully for us this morning. In our text, father and son walk together to an unknown destination. Abraham leads Isaac to the altar, ties him up and prepares to slaughter him according to God's command. At the last minute, God stops Abraham and a ram which happened to be caught in a nearby thicket was offered up in Isaac's place.

On a literal level, the text teaches us that the binding of Isaac is a test of Abraham's faith. God needs to know if Abraham and his descendants will be able to fulfill their part of the Covenantal relationship.

And yet, we must ask: What kind of a God would ask a parent to sacrifice a child - as a test? And so, each year, I try to find another perspective to help me to come to grips with the Akedah.

This year, I had no trouble. This year, the answer came to me quite clearly - in the sounds of people marching through the streets of almost every city in our nation. These marches and protests took place following the deaths of several Black Americans:  George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmad Ahbrey and Elijah McClain – to name only a few.

I want to share with you a poem composed by the Israeli Poet, Chayim Gouri. It is called "Heritage"(Yerusha):

The Ram came last of all.
And Abraham did not know that it came to answer the boy's question -
First of his strength when his day was on the wane.

The old man raised his head.
Seeing that it was no dream and that the angel stood there -
The knife slipped from his hand.

The boy, released from his bonds,
Saw his father's back.

Isaac, as the story goes,
Was not sacrificed.
He lived for many years,
Saw what pleasure had to offer,
Until his eyesight dimmed.

But he bequeathed that hour to his offspring.

They are born with a knife in their hearts.

Gouri's final stanza: "They are born with a knife in their hearts" would suggest that Isaac's bequest to his offspring is the memory of the violence that shaped his childhood.

Gouri wrote this poem in the aftermath of the Shoah. The wound of which he speaks is etched into our consciousness as Jews. Indeed, many studies have demonstrated the intergenerational trauma experienced by children and even grandchildren of Holocaust survivors. 

Last year, at our Selichot services, Rabbi Tirtza Firestone shared her research and writing on the topic of intergenerational trauma and the holocaust. I must confess, I was deeply moved by her words. She shared how the descendants of survivors face many fears, trauma and even physiological issues even though they never directly experienced trauma. My mother escaped Nazi Germany when she was 12 years old and my sister and I grew up in a home where fear of the “other” and a perpetual sense of dread were constant companions. This had a profound impact on every aspect of our lives.

Intergenerational trauma, however, is not an exclusively Jewish phenomenon. There is ample evidence in American history of those who were victimized, brutalized and dehumanized and who bear scars to this very day. The legacies of Slavery, Jim Crow, racial segregation, and White privilege have been passed down from generation to generation. They live on in the many hidden and not so hidden barriers, policies, and daily practice of American life. As such, the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Elijah McClain and so many others did not cause the protests of this past summer.  The slogan, “Black Lives Matter,” did not suddenly emerge as a provocative call to radical revolution. Rather, all these events and ideas were formed and forged in a crucible of history that reached a boiling point that had been set in motion for generations. Add to this the tensions created by the realization that the danger, infection and mortality rates of COVID-19 were highest in communities of color and those on the bottom of the economic ladder. It is clear that the explosion of anger, frustration and fear we witnessed was both understandable and inevitable.

Last year, I also spoke about racial justice during the High Holy Days. In the months that followed, we convened a series of conversations at Temple that resulted in a dedicated group of learners who gathered to explore issues of race and injustice. These were very difficult conversations. No one wants to acknowledge that they may somehow have contributed to or benefitted from a system that was built to promote White Supremacy and privilege. But the evidence is overwhelming.

The African American academic and author, Roxanne Gay, wrote the following this past May:

 “…Some white people…fret over the destruction of property and want everyone to just get along. They struggle to understand why Black people are rioting but offer no alternatives about what a people should do about a lifetime of rage, disempowerment and injustice…The rest of the world yearns to get back to normal. For black people, normal is the very thing from which we yearn to be free[i].”

As Jews, I believe that our response to these events– the marches, demonstrations, calls for radical reform and self-reflection – are as much a test as was the binding of Isaac.

·         If we ignore the clarion calls for understanding, for justice and equity that have emerged from the streets of our cities - then we / have failed / our test.

·         If we focus only on the destruction and chaos caused by extremists with vested interests in disrupting and obfuscating messages of pain and trauma - then we / have failed / our test.

·         At the same time, if we do not condemn the demonization and random violence directed against Law Enforcement - - then we / have failed / our test.

·         If we only hear the scattered voices of anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism that a small number of organizers of the Black Lives Matter movement have spoken – and do not hear the condemnation of these individuals and ideas within the movement – or, even worse, allow these few outliers to provide us a reason to disregard the entire movement, then we / have failed / our test.

·         If we allow ourselves to stand silently while our neighbors, family members, fellow congregants, friends and colleagues bleed – then not only have we failed our test, but we have forsaken the sacred, prophetic cry that our faith, our history and our Torah have bequeathed to us.

Elie Wiesel, in his 1986 acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize said the following: 

Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Whenever men or women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must – at that moment – become the center of the universe.

And if you feel that cries for racial equity do not apply to us as Jews, then you are cutting off members of our own congregation – our children, spouses, leaders and students. A recent study showed that 12% of American Jews are either “Jews of Color” or live in multi-racial households[ii] - and these numbers are growing.  While these statistics may vary in different parts of the country, the fact remains that our community is changing – for the better. If demographic trends continue, then the Jewish people will continue to grow increasingly diverse and the beauty of multi-ethnic and racial harmony could very well be part and parcel of the legacy of American Judaism.

Like Abraham, we are being tested, my friends. And the way that we, as a community, as people of faith and as a congregation of conscience rise to the challenge will determine, in no small way – our ethical core and consistency. We who have inherited a prophetic legacy of social justice cannot remain silent, passive or oblivious to the reality of racism in our community and our national history.

It is for this reason that I am incredibly proud of the following resolution drafted by members of our racial equity working group that was voted on and overwhelmingly passed by our Board of Trustees in August.  It reads, in part:

Temple Emanuel … strives to create a kehillah kedoshah – a holy community – for all past, present and future members. We believe that Black Lives Matter.  As such, we unequivocally condemn expressions of bigotry, intolerance, violence, and white supremacy.  We firmly stand alongside our friends and colleagues of color as we struggle together toward equity and righteousness. We believe that it is not enough to merely condemn these societal ills, but we must actively become anti-racist by addressing and working to change them. Temple Emanuel and the Reform Jewish community have a long and proud history of partnership, activism and solidarity with Movements for Social Justice and Civil rights in our country. But there is still a great deal of work to be done to achieve racial equality….

As a result, we are fully dedicated to becoming an anti-racist congregation.

To become an anti-racist congregation, we will initially look inward and focus on the following:

    • Providing ongoing educational content and opportunities for self-reflection on issues of racial justice - for our clergy, staff, lay leadership and membership.
    • Implementing an institutional assessment to measure where we are organizationally in terms of diversity, inclusivity, and equity. 

We pledge to work in solidarity with others as we live out the essential Jewish value of B'Tzelem Elohim - all Humanity is Created in God’s image. We are committed to dismantling systems of white privilege wherever they might be found as we celebrate the holiness in every human being.

At Temple Emanuel, the time is now for our voices to rise together so that we can live out the biblical injunction: 

“Justice, justice, shall you pursue.” (Deuteronomy 16:20)

Our Congregational leadership has stepped forward to proclaim our values as Jews, as concerned citizens and as children of Isaac who know all too well the pain of intergeneration trauma.

I am also very excited to announce that the Rose Community Foundation will be partnering with Temple Emanuel. They have provided us with a substantial grant that will support our enable us to begin the work of becoming an Anti-Racist agenda. We received the following letter this past week:

Rose Community Foundation is proud to provide seed funding to support Temple Emanuel’s commitment to becoming an anti-racist congregation…

In addition to ongoing funding to increase the strength and capacity of Jewish organizations and support programs that are reflective of diverse Jewish communities and offer meaningful and relevant ways to engage in Jewish life, Rose Community Foundation aims to support local Jewish efforts that seek to advance social justice by engaging Jewish people and using Jewish values and traditions to respond to key social issues of our time…We pledge to continue listening, learning and directing our philanthropy toward advancing equity, justice and inclusion, and we are honored to have Temple Emanuel as a partner in that work.

On Yom Kippur afternoon, at 2:00 PM, members of our Racial Justice Task Force will be joining with me to discuss the vitally important work that we will be continuing and expanding over the course of the next year. Our High School Youth Programs will be engaging in a similar discussion this afternoon at 3:00. Join us. Help make a change – in our community and most importantly, in ourselves.

My friends, there is a tremendous amount of work that needs to be done. Today, our tradition teaches, we stand before God. We are being tested. Like Abraham and Isaac, the way that we respond to the pain and suffering around us will determine whether or not we have passed the test.

I look forward to partnering together to make our world more complete.

AMEN L’Shanah Tovah


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