The Rabbi‘s Vision

The month of Tishrei, with one Holiday seemingly following immediately after another, has just drawn to a close, resulting in many breathing a collective sigh of relief. The month that we are now entering is Cheshvan, commonly referred to as “Mar” (“bitter”) Cheshvan. Why? Because there are no holidays during this month. Too many, not enough; will we ever be satisfied?

A sincere “Thank You” this month goes to Bonnie and David Brand for hosting the upcoming “New Member” party; to Sharon Elstein, Lynn Zitron, and their committees, Membership and G’MACH, for working closely together to provide host families for new members, and Gail Gogan, Cheryl Dronzek, and Lynn Seltzer for working hard each month to get the Megillah out in a timely and accurate manner.

We have just again begun a new cycle of Torah reading, beginning with Safer Bereishit (The Book of Genesis), which opens, as many of us remember from childhood, with the story of Creation. Many sages and commentators ask why the Torah begins with the creation story, instead, for example, with the laws or mitzvot found primarily in the Books of Exodus and Leviticus. While numerous responses are given, one I found persuasive is that of Rabbi J.B. Soloveitchik, the great 20^th Century Orthodox sage and scholar. He starts with one of the Torah’s general overriding commandments—that “We are to be Holy, because Adonai our God is Holy”, that is, we are expected to emulate and follow the ways of God; and just as God created and re-creates the world each day, Rabbi Soloveitchik says, we are commanded to re-create the world each day. How do we do this? The answer is found at the end of my column, below.

My column this month consists of a number of key excerpts from my Yom Kippur d’var Torah. I am doing so for several reasons, in addition to furnishing an answer to the above question. I was taught as a lawyer that people generally retain, the first time that they hear something, even when they are paying close attention, less than 25% of what they hear, and I believe that the subject of the sermon is such an important one that we can all benefit from being exposed to it again. In addition, our commitment and obligation to do Teshuvah, something we may emphasize more during the Yamim Noraim, “The Days of Awe”, is, according to our Tradition, so important that we should be working on it 365 days a year.

MY YOM KIPPUR D’VAR TORAH (EDITED)

The subject of my d’var Torah today is, according to our Tradition, probably the single most important “midah”, or human “character” Trait, for it holds the key to our being able to perfect all the other important “Midot”, such as “compassion”, “awareness”, “kindness”,and “respect for God and for others”. For without possessing this particular trait, one often does not feel the need to do the hard work required to do Teshuvah, to change and to grow, such as undertaking a “heshbon hanefesh” (“an honest self-evaluation”) and to develop a close, intimate relationship with God.

It is this particular character trait, moreover, more than any other—when it becomes an integral part of the synagogue community and culture--that will one day enable Temple Emanuel to achieve its goal of becoming a “holy community”.

What is this foundational midah? It is “Anavah”, or “Humility”.

With Humility being the main focus of my sermon, today, I would like to begin with a personal viduii or confession:

“Even the best of us, even those, who are well meaning and have the best of intentions, can still say and do things wrongly and inappropriately, for hard as we may try, we are all still imperfect. Over the past year, I have had hundreds, if not thousands, of interactions with the members of the Temple Emanuel Community. While I have sincerely tried, before speaking and acting, to make sure that what I was going to say and do was in keeping with the ethical requirements of our Jewish Tradition, I am not so naïve or arrogant to believe that I have never “strayed from the mark,” have never said or done anything wrongful or inappropriate, which may have led to someone’s being hurt.

Thus, I would like to start today by sincerely apologizing to any one of you, whom I may have wronged, this past year, by word or by deed, and to sincerely ask for your forgiveness. In the same way, for any of you who may sincerely desire to apologize to me, for anything that you may have done wrong, by word or by deed, to hurt or harm me, this past year, please know that I will do my best to accept your apology and to forgive you, for Adonai and our Tradition call upon me to do nothing less. “

The fact that each of us is here today is, in and of itself, a good start and a wonderful opportunity to begin working on the “midah” of “Humility”, as we might ask ourselves: “Is there something more that I could be doing, to fulfill my covenantal obligation to God—and, at the same time, to help make Temple Emanuel a more cohesive, Jewishly knowledgeable, inclusive, financially stable, just and fair, professional, and/or holier community?”—you pick the adjective or adjectives that resonate with you….

If Temple Emanuel is to one day, hopefully, in the not too distant future, become a “holy community”, it is going to happen when we, both individually and as a community, recognize that the synagogue needs the wisdom, the talents, and the skills of all of us, working together as a team, for one common goal or purpose—that being, to serve God and others within and outside the community.

As our Tradition teaches: “Ayn Anavah, Ayn Teshuvah”! (“No Humility, No Repentance”!)

Only when we are willing to take the risk (1) of being open and honest with ourselves; to admit our foibles and mistakes, first, to ourselves, then, to God and to others, whom we may have harmed; (2) of calling upon God for guidance, strength, and courage; and then (3) of asking God and those we have harmed for forgiveness, will we then be able to truly begin changing, growing, and becoming a better person-- the person God created us to be.

In his recent book, “Everyday Mussar”, Dr. Alan Morinis writes that “Humility is the most important of all the character traits, because it requires us to have made an unvarnished and honest assessment of who we are. Real Humility is achieved by those who have been able to find a middle ground, a balance between self-debasement, or being overly self-effacing, at one end of the continuum, and being filled with pride and arrogance, at the other.” Without humility, Dr. Morinis explains, one is either so puffed up with arrogance that he is unable to acknowledge his dark sides and his foibles, or he is so deflated and lacking in self-esteem that he will usually despair of ever being able to make the changes he needs to make, even if he is able to identify them. The end result is the same—little or no growth or change.

One should never fall in the trap of confusing “False Humility” with “True Humility.” The Rabbis of the Talmud describe a truly humble person as “[O]ne who has a clear, objective understanding of exactly who the person is and speaks and acts accordingly.” That is, the persons knows just how much space to take up in the world, not too much, not too little”…With the person who exhibits false modesty, there is a disconnect, a lack of integrity, between what he truly feels about himself and what he shows the world. [At this point, my d’var Torah was interrupted by a surprise cameo appearance by Moshe Rabeinu, who explained to us how and why God chose him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt and allowed him to become so close to God.] “It had nothing to do with my good looks or intelligence, Moses assured us. God explains God’s reasoning to all of us, Moses noted, in Safer Bamidbar (The Book of Numbers):

“Moses is a very humble person, more so than any other person on earth….”

“When a Prophet of Adonai rises among you, I make myself known to him in a vision. I speak with him in a dream. Not so with my servant Moses. He is trusted throughout my Household. With him, I speak mouth-to-mouth, plainly and not in riddles. And he beholds the likeness of Adonai.”

Yes, if we want to develop a close, intimate relationship with God, we must first develop the “Humility” to recognize and appreciate that we are not the center of the universe, that there is a power far greater than ourselves, a power that we Jews call Adonai…

For, in explaining how one is best able to begin doing TESHUVAH, a great Hasidic teacher, keying on the word “ATONEMENT,” broke the word down, thusly: “AT - ONE - MENT” - with GOD!”

As we begin our quest, for the coming year, to make Temple Emanuel an even more inclusive, participatory, well-led, financially stable, and holy community, let us commit, both as individuals and as a community, to make “Anavah”, “Humility”, a trait that we all seriously strive to incorporate into our conversations and dealings with each other. And the answer to Rav Soloveitchik’s question—the way that we most effectively emulate God and re-create the world is by seeking to re-create ourselves, growing closer to God, becoming more like the person God created us to be, and to thus be more holy in the way that we lead our lives.

In Peace