From the pages of Kadima, the newsletter of Congregation Adas Emuno:

A Message From Our President

Dr. Lance Strate

Why Do We Do What We Do?

As the summer season comes to close, we now prepare for our annual ritual of renewal, our High Holy Days and Festivals, our New Year and Day of Atonement and At-One-ment, and our celebrations of the divine gifts of nature and scripture, harvest and Torah, sustenance for body and for soul.

But why? Why do we do what we do? A single question, with many answers.

Because we remember.

Because we remember who we are.

Because we remember who we have chosen to be.

Because we love our children, and we do not want them to be deprived of the spiritual dimension of life.

Because we love our children, and we do not want them to be outsiders, estranged from our Jewish community, alienated from our unique civilization.

Because we love learning, and respect the importance of education and ethical conduct alike.

Because we believe in social justice, and that we should not stand idly by.

Because we remember that we are commanded to love our neighbors, and also to love the stranger.

Because we love and respect family and community.

Because we honor our mothers and fathers, and their mothers and fathers, and all those who came before, who preserved this irreplaceable legacy for us, and who lived and died so that we can live our lives in peace and freedom.

Because we remember and honor Abraham's covenant with God.

Because we remember and honor the faith of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Rachel and Leah.

Because we remember that we were slaves in Egypt.

Because we remember Moses, and the prophetic vision of a world redeemed.

Because we remember Sinai, and honor our obligations to seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly.

Because we believe that we are called upon to repair and heal the world.

Because we believe in a living tradition that is flexible, and that continues to grow and evolve.

Because we believe in something greater than ourselves.

Because we want to believe in something greater than ourselves.

Because we are not sure what to believe, but are willing to struggle with that question, and are not prepared to surrender without a fight.

Because we do not want 4,000 years of Jewish life to end with us.

Because we remember the Holocaust, and say to the world, never again.

Because we remember the Holocaust, and remember that we are defined by much more than being victims of persecution.

Because we honor the State of Israel, and rejoice in its accomplishments.

Because we honor the State of Israel, and honor the fact that we are defined by much more than a promised land and a holy city and a promise to return.

Because we not bound by place or space, but instead are connected to one another through history, and across time.

Because we honor the past and keep faith with the future, believing in a better world to come, one that we can take part in creating, here on earth.

Because it is meaningful, and gives our lives a significance we cannot obtain though any other means.

Because it matters, to us, to our parents and children, our families and friends, to our neighbors and strangers, to our allies and foes, to the world in both its sacred and profane aspects.

Because it makes a difference, being a deliberate choice we make as to whether the Jewish people and the Jewish faith will continue tomorrow or end today.

Because we remember who we are.

Because we remember we are Jews.

Because we remember.