Religion and Space Travel

We think some of you may be interested in the fact that two members of our Adas Emuno community have contributed chapters to a new anthology entitled,Touching the Face of the Cosmos: On the Intersection of Space Travel and Religion. The contributors are none other than our spiritual leader, Rabbi Barry L. Schwartz, and the president of our congregation, Lance Strate.

If you like to do your reading on screens rather than paper, or if you can't wait for the hard copy to be published, the book was recently made available on Amazon Kindle, via Connected Editions:

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 For those of you willing to wait for it, or who prefer to read ink on paper, paperback and hardcover editions of the book will be published in March, and are available for pre-order:

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Some of the other contributors include the Director of the Vatican Observatory Guy Consolmagno, the science fiction author and public intellectual David Brin, science fiction author Gregory Benford, and several former NASA officials, not to mention an interview with John Glenn, the first American astronaut to orbit the planet. If you want to see the full table of contents, click on the link for the Kindle edition above, then on the "Look Inside" option by clicking on the cover.

 

And as you can see from this cover image, the collection is co-edited by Paul Levinson and Michael Waltemathe. Some of you may recall that back on May 5th, 2007, we had a Havadallah Talk adult education session entitled "A Talmudic Look at Ancient History and Science Fiction," given by science fiction author Paul Levinson. 

Paul is also a Professor of Communication and Media Studies at Fordham University, where he is a colleague of Lance Strate. You can read about that Havdallah Talk on Lance's blog, in a post entitled, The Plotz to Save Socrates (our congregational blog wasn't launched until 2010). And Lance's recent blog post on the anthology, Interfacing With the Cosmos, includes additional links and video. 

 

Rabbi Schwartz's Sermon for Rosh Hashanah Evening 5776

THE BIRTHDAY OF THE WORLD

ROSH HASHANAH 5776

RABBI BARRY L. SCHWARTZ

Just over three years ago this month an epic event in the history of mankind quietly passed with little fanfare. In this non-stop news era, I find it remarkable that such scant attention was given to something that personally made me pause in wonder and reflect in awe.

On or about August 25, 2012 the Voyager 1 spacecraft became the first manmade object to leave our Solar system. The little ship successfully withstood what scientists call “termination shock”—the area where particles from the Sun begin to slow and clash with matter from deep space. It passed through the vast “heliosheath”—the expanse where the solar wind piles up as it presses outward against interstellar matter, and then crossed the “heliopause”—the boundary between the solar wind and the interstellar wind, where the pressure of both are in balance.

Now Voyager 1 is sailing free through the Milky Way. It is more than 12 billion miles from home. The distance is 121 AUs (Astronomical Units) away; that is 121 times the separation between the Earth and the Sun. It takes 17 hours for a radio signal from Voyager to reach receivers here on the home planet. “It’s utterly astonishing that this fragile artifact based on 1970s technology can signal its presence from this immense distance,” remarked Astronomer Sir Martin Rees.

Voyager 1 was launched in 1977 to study the outer planets, but then just kept going. Talk about deep space: Even though it is traveling at 45 km/s (100,000 mph), it will not approach another star for nearly 40,000 years. In a billion years it will still be in our galaxy.

Professor Edward Stone, the chief scientist of the mission compared the achievement of Voyager to circumnavigating the globe for the first time, and to Armstrong’s step on the moon. Renowned planetary scientist Fred Taylor was just a young post-doc on the team back in ’77. “The idea that the spacecraft would exit the Solar System altogether was so way out, figuratively as well as literally, that we didn’t even discuss it then,” he remarked. “Although I suppose we knew it would happen someday,” he admits, adding, “Forty-three years later, that day has arrived, and Voyager is still finding new frontiers.”

I was reminded of Voyager’s breakthrough achievement twice this summer. The first time was when we saw those first photos of Pluto from NASA’s New Horizon’s spacecraft on July 14. Yeah, it didn’t look like much… drab like the moon… and Pluto was downgraded from a real planet to a dwarf planet a few years ago… but I got all excited. Think about it—it took New Horizon 9.5 years traveling 3 billion miles just to get up close with Pluto. And we got to see the actual surface of the last major piece of real estate in our Solar System.

Then I was reminded of Voyager again a week later, when on July 20 (the 46th anniversary of the moon landing) Russian billionaire Yuri Milner pledged $100 million dollars to launch a new search for extra-terrestrial life. With the famous physicist Stephen Hawking by his side, Milner described a plan to harness the world’s most powerful telescopes and computers to scan the Milky Way and a hundred neighboring galaxies in unprecedented ways. “There is no bigger question,” said Hawking in his computer-generated voice. “We are intelligent, we are alive, we must know.”

If you are a space geek like me, you can’t get enough of this stuff. And if you’ve read up on the subject you will know that Milner’s initiative, dubbed “Breakthrough Listen”, stands on the shoulders of Carl Sagan’s SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) project of the 1980s. You will also know that SETI was not the first foray into this area. The aforementioned Voyager, out there in interstellar space, is carrying something called “The Golden Record”. Indulge me for a few moments as I describe it.

The Golden Record is a 12-inch gold-plated copper phonograph disk containing sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth. Sagan and a NASA Committee assembled 115 such sounds and images, like the surf, wind and thunder, birds, whales, greetings in 55 languages, musical selections, and messages from President Jimmy Carter and UN Secretary General Kurt Waldheim. At the time Sagan said, “The spacecraft will be encountered and the record played only if there are advanced spacefaring civilizations in interstellar space. But the launching of this bottle into the cosmic ocean says something very hopeful about life on this planet.”

That last line is really what I want to talk about. What does Voyager and SETI and now Breakthrough Listen really mean? Why spend all the time and money? Don’t we have enough problems here on Earth? What’s the point?

President Carter, in his Voyager message, also spoke of hope. This is what he said: “We cast this message into the cosmos… Of the 200 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy, some—perhaps many—may have inhabited planets and space faring civilizations. If one such civilization intercepts Voyager and can understand these recorded contents, here is our message: We are trying to survive our time so we may live into yours. We hope someday, having solved the problems we face, to join a community of galactic civilizations. This record represents our hope and determination and our goodwill in a vast and awesome universe.”

Reaching for the stars is first about gratitude and humility. The ancient Psalmist declared more than two thousand years ago, and none has said it better: “When I behold your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you set in place—What are we humans that You are mindful of us? We mortals, that you take note of us? Yet you made us little less than divine; adorned with glory and majesty. You gave us dominion over your handiwork, laying the world at our feet....” (Psalm 8)

Exploring the cosmos is second, a constant reminder of how fragile and precious and interdependent the home planet really is. Soviet cosmonaut Vitali Sevastyanov wrote, “Once during the mission I was asked by ground control what I could see. What do I see? I replied. Half a word to the left; half a world to the right; I can see it all. The Earth is so small.” His colleague Aleksi Leanov added, “The Earth was small, light blue, and touchingly alone; our home that must be defended like a holy relic.” Sigmund Jan, a German astronaut, recounts that “only when I saw the Earth from space did I realize that humankind’s most urgent task is to cherish and preserve it for future generation.”

Remember that the space age began as a space race between the United States and the Soviet Union. Now look at the cooperation between countries. We can’t even get to the International Space Station anymore without hitching a ride with the Russians. Perhaps in one sense that is fitting. The last frontier is truly an international one. Saudi astronaut Bin Salman said it best: “The first day or so we all pointed to our countries. The third or fourth day we were pointing to our continents. By the fifth day we were aware of only one earth.”

The aforementioned Yuri Milner, the Russian billionaire (and yes he is Jewish), is a theoretical physicist turned global investor with a Wharton MBA. He was named for Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space, who orbited the Earth seven months before Milner was born. His telescopes and his team are assembled from every corner of the world.

I cannot argue that the fortune Milner is spending on his grand, quixotic venture might not be more urgently needed elsewhere. But in elevating us physically and spiritually to a new perspective on our planet, by reminding us of our common humanity and our highest humanity… to me, something sacred is going on.

When we blow the shofar three times, we will then recite three times, “hayom harat olam”; “this day the world is born.” Rosh Hashanah celebrates the birthday of the world. It is 5776 years old, give or take a few billion years. How better to celebrate the birth of the world, and the miracle of its life sustaining endurance, than by embracing the perspective bequeathed to us by the astronauts and the scientists. How better to celebrate the birth of the world by safeguarding the home planet even as we reach beyond it. How better to affirm our humanity by joining hands in the peaceful exploration of the greater universe of which we part, and are destined to discover.

And finally, allow me to conclude with the thought that the vast expanse of the universe and its exploration inspires the vast expanse of our imagination. Lovers of science fiction already know this to be true. Space invites us to dream again… to dream big.

I know that the chances of intelligent life being discovered anywhere else are totally remote. In fact, many have quipped that we are still looking for it here. But could you imagine if one day we did make contact?

And even if we don’t, think about this: Maybe our time on this planet is limited. Maybe the earth’s ability to sustain us will fail, even long before our sun, like all stars, will flare and die. Could it be that our survival lies beyond this planet?

And think about this: it could be that humanity will long be gone, extinct as the dinosaurs. But the tiny messengers, Pioneer 1 and 2, Voyager 1 and 2, New Horizons will continue to tote little pieces of our history throughout the universe. And maybe after drifting for millions or billions of years, one of our messages-in-a-bottle will be discovered, and mark the most exciting event in another civilization’s history.

Happy Birthday, world. And Shanah Tovah.

Find the Familiar Face!

No, it's not a game of where's waldo or waldbaum or whatever, but can you find the familiar face in this crowd of great Jewish learning?

Yes, it's our very own Rabbi Schwartz, in the center on the bottom row, but you found him already, so good job! And once more he will be participating in Sweet Tastes of Torah this Saturday evening, where he'll be talking about the spirituality of the desert (as in the Sinai, but there will also be desserts served, don't worry). 

And there will be many other interesting programs to choose from, with preregistration (by the 29th) at only $18 per person (such a deal!), and if you miss that, just $5 more to pay at the door. And it's all happening over in Fair Lawn, so you don't have to leave Bergen County, and it's not too far from us here in Leonia. Just click on the link to check it all out at Sweet Tastes of Torah.

Surf's Up for the Future of Reform Judaism

With the completion of the Union for Reform Judaism's Biennial in San Diego this past weekend, we thought we'd share with you the Keynote Address delivered by Rabbi Rick Jacobs,  President of the URJ. The address entitled The Genesis of Our Future, was delivered on December 12, 2013.






And here is the text of his speech:

The Genesis of Our Future

San Diego Biennial
December 12 2013-10 Tevet 5774
Rabbi Rick Jacobs 

I grew up in Southern California, just a few hours from here, and believe it or not, I spent a chunk of my early teens surfing waves on the beaches of Orange County. A flat, calm Pacific Ocean spelled disappointment, even boredom.

But most weeks, there were at least a few swells.

And every so often you would hear cries around our high school: "Surf's up." Which meant: put everything on hold, grab your board, and hustle to the beach.

Once or twice the swells were just awesome, beyond belief, the kind that would scare even Judah Maccabee to death.

Why am I telling you all of this? Am I suggesting that you skip tomorrow's sessions, buy a wet suit, and hit the surf? Not really. I'm telling you this because surf conditions can be helpful in describing the level of challenge facing our Jewish community today.

In the 1950s, the waves of Jewish life were steady and easily ridden. Our Reform Movement grew with ease, as congregations harnessed the baby-boomer migration to suburbs throughout North America. Since 1990 or so, those waves have grown larger, as concern for Jewish continuity sent shock waves through every Jewish communal institution, especially synagogues. More recently, the waves have grown larger still, at times threatening to capsize us. For the first time in Jewish history, people of many faiths are happy to befriend us, work with us, and, yes, marry us. At the same time, radical individualism threatens our collective identity, while technology decentralizes authority and transforms how we learn and connect. 

Big waves require more skill and courage to ride - but if ridden artfully, they enable us to go faster and further than ever before. 

Friends, "surf's up." It's time to grab our boards (surf boards, temple boards, whatever works!) and ride. Two years ago at our Washington, D.C. Biennial, I wasn't yet the URJ president and I was only unofficially riding those big waves. And still, I promised that miketz sh'nataim, "at the end of two years" - we'd be busy re-imagining Jewish life. And that's exactly what we have done -- and are doing. Tonight, I want to tell you where we are, and where we're headed. 

This week, we finish our reading of the first book of the Torah, so I'd like to use the Book of Genesis as a prism through which we can glimpse not only our past, but more importantly, our future.
Bereisheit bara Elohim, in the beginning, God didn't create synagogues or rabbis or denominations or even Jewish people. No, God created a wondrous universe, teeming with beauty, complexity, and possibility. Within this incomplete world, God created human beings to be partners in shaping a world overflowing with shleimut (wholeness), rachamim (compassion), simcha (joy), and tzedek (justice).   

But, God discovered that finding the right partners in this holy work was easier said than done. Cain was selfish and violent. The people of Babel were reckless, with delusions of grandeur. And Noah was content as long as his own family was safe, but he didn't have the spiritual reach to include strangers in his circle of responsibility.

Abraham and Sarah are called upon to set out on a radical new journey, to a new land and a covenantal relationship with the Holy One - a journey that leads them to deserve the promise God made to them, that, v'nitbarchu v'cha mishpachot ha'adama, "through you, all of the families of the earth will be blessed."    

We know that we cannot do our work without others, without partners. Throughout our history, we Jews have created a variety of institutions to sustain our devotion to God's intended path for us. And institutions have their own logic, their own dynamic. Sometimes we forget that they are means, not ends. We are called to do something bigger and grander than simply being caretakers of Jewish institutions. What is that something? Our Jewish job is to build a more vibrant, richer Jewish life for our people and communities, so that we can live up to our partnership with the Holy One in creating a world of wholeness, compassion, joy and justice.   

As long as a structure or institution of Jewish life serves the sacred mission of our people, it deserves to be preserved. But now and then, and especially now, we are well-advised to examine the fit between ends and means, in order to ensure that we remain devoted to the audacious imperatives that got us started. I say "audacious," from the word "audacity," which the dictionary equates with boldness, fearlessness, and courage. The Jewish people is here today because those who came before us were audacious, courageous, fearless, and bold. 

Genesis teaches us the power of practicing audacious hospitality.

Early in Genesis, Abraham and Sarah set the standard. On a blisteringly hot day, Abraham runs after three desert wanderers, insisting they come inside for nourishment. What makes his act so memorable is that he doesn't wait for the wanderers to knock on his door; instead, he goes out to meet them where they are and invites them in. 

A couple of months ago, I arrived early at one of our URJ congregations to speak on a Friday night. After trying to figure out where the entrance was, I found the lobby, where a woman wearing a nametag looked at me and barked: "What do you want?" I answered: "I want to be in a congregation filled with warmth and welcome." She eyed me with a look of, "Boy, do you have the wrong place!" Then she looked over her shoulder at the easel in the entryway, which had a picture of a guy who looked a lot like me. She pointed at the picture and asked, "Are you him?" I nodded yes. With suddenly discovered warmth, she said, "Well, why didn't you say so?" That's not audacious hospitality. 

To be sure, many of our congregations do an outstanding job of welcoming, but many do not; and even if yours does, are you sure that everyone in a position to represent you is among those who do? So here's a simple thing you can do when you get home. Take every member of your board, every staff and team member, everyone who might come early one Friday night, and give them a run-through on the power of being Abraham and Sarah.

But being welcomed at the door, even by greeters with nametags on their clothes, smiles on their faces, and hospitality in their DNA still isn't enough. Audacious hospitality isn't just a temporary act of kindness so that people don't feel left out; it's an ongoing invitation to be part of a community where we can become all that God wants us to be - and a way to transform ourselves in the process. 

Audacious hospitality is a two-way street, where synagogue and stranger need each other. Hospitality is not just our chance to teach newcomers but, just as important, an opportunity for them to teach us. 

And worse even than the smugness of self-satisfaction, is the charge heard from some within the organized Jewish community proclaiming that these outsiders just don't know and don't care about Jewish life. Why bring them in if they will only dilute our commitment? And who is to say whose commitment will turn out to be greater in the end? 

This past year, I spent a Shabbat at Shir Tikvah Congregation in Minneapolis, where, for the past 25 years, the synagogue has practiced what members call "radical hospitality" - inspiring spiritually homeless souls to feel the loving embrace of real community. Warmth, acceptance, and openness flow from every communication and every human encounter.

In a Jewish world where many more Jews are outside than inside, how can we not practice audacious hospitality? When women finally became rabbis, cantors, and board presidents, they didn't just fill the previously conceived roles; they critiqued and reshaped Jewish life. We need to do the same now with the LGBTQ community, with multi-racial Jews, with intermarried families, and with Gen X and the millennials, all of whom have much to teach us.

Let's be frank. Even when they get inside our doors, many of these folks are convinced of not much more than the fact that we can smile. Are they equally certain that we want them? That's the question. The answer is an emphatic yes. Only by being inclusive can we be strong; only by being open can we be whole. 

The paradigm for the audacity I am discussing came when, decades ago, Rabbi Alexander Schindler overturned all previous Jewish communal assumptions about interfaith families by insisting that instead of closing our doors, we should warmly embrace these families and draw them close in all aspects of Jewish life. How congregations do this holy work varies, but today, it is an axiom of Reform Judaism that we do this work of inclusion every day. And what a difference it has made:  bringing the creativity, leadership, and service of hundreds of thousands of interfaith families to enrich our congregational lives, while countless thousands of children are being raised with meaningful Jewish experiences and commitments.

Incredibly enough, however, I still hear Jewish leaders talk about intermarriage as if it were a disease. It is not. It is a result of the open society that no one here wants to close. The sociology is clear enough; anti-Semitism is down; Jews feel welcome; we mix easily with others; Jewish North Americans (researchers say) are more admired overall than any other religious group. So of course you get high intermarriage rates - the norm, incidentally, in the third or fourth generation of other ethnic groups as well. 

In North America today, being "against" intermarriage is like being "against" gravity; you can say it all you want, but it's a fact of life. And what would you prefer? More anti-Semitism? That people did not feel as comfortable with us? 

In any event, we practice outreach because it is good for the Jewish people. Interfaith couples can raise phenomenally committed Jewish families, especially when they do it in the Jewish community that is offered uniquely by the Reform Movement.

The Talmud brags that no person ever greeted Yohanan ben Zakkai first, not even a non-Jew in the market place; it was always ben Zakkai who was first to extend his hand - to Jew and non-Jew alike.  Yohanan ben Zakkai is known for completely reimagining Jewish life when the second Temple was being destroyed. The architect of the biggest turnaround in Jewish history knew what it was to be audacious. And so must we.

It is not just sociology that demands that we be serious about welcoming interfaith families. It is theology as well. We have a sacred obligation to open our doors, to add to our ranks, and to make sure that progressive Judaism has a growing, not a shrinking, voice in proclaiming what Torah must mean for our time and for our world. It is a veritable gift of God to have the opportunity of a millennium: more non-Jews who want "in" than Jews who want "out." That has never happened before. We dare not squander this gift out of fear of what new voices may say and where new opinions may lead. 

Congregation Or Ami in Calabasas, CA, identifies itself by saying: "We are also ‘Mosaic' in that we connect back to Moses, a Hebrew child, raised by Egyptians, who married a non-Jewish woman of color and became the leader of his people." 

And then there are Jews with disabilities, where we pay lip service to inclusion, but too often fail to take real action. Up to 20% of our population is living with some kind of disability at any given time. Some are visible because the person is using a wheelchair or cane or has a service dog. Most are not - think of psychiatric conditions and chronic illnesses that may only be intermittently disabling, but can be especially cruel. Think of people who cannot manage a relationship, hold a job, get ahead, finish school, or even stay out late and have a decent meal on a regular basis. Inclusion is a lot more than changing physical structures and facilities. A ramp is just a sloped sidewalk if stigma and prejudice get in the way. You can subcontract out the construction of a ramp, but being fully accessible and open to people with disabilities is work that we can only do ourselves, person-by-person, moment-by-moment. 

I think of my Westchester Reform Temple (WRT) student Jacob Wiener who wasn't sure he could become a bar mitzvah. Jacob has autism spectrum disorder and bipolar syndrome. Not only did he lead an inspiring Shabbat service for his bar mitzvah, but in the aftermath he couldn't think of leaving the community that so totally embraced him. Last year, as a 9th grader, he participated in the Religious Action Center's L'Taken weekend in Washington, D.C., where he taught his fellow students and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand's staff about the importance of supporting the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This treaty, by the way, will be up for a ratification vote in the Senate as early as next week. I urge you all to contact your senators to ask them to vote for passage of this vital treaty that will change the course of disability inclusion across the globe. 

We need look only as far as some of our own congregations to see powerful models. At Rodeph Sholom in New York City, a URJ incubator grant helped create inclusive new worship opportunities with room for exuberant and active prayer, without congregants saying "Shhhh!" or "sit down." The congregation's sensitivity and inclusion have brought in families who had given up hope that there was a Jewish community for them.

Thanks to a new partnership with the Ruderman Family Foundation, the URJ will be helping all of our congregations remove barriers to participation, so that all individuals can take their rightful place in the center of congregational life. 

And I'll tell you something else: when we do, when we open our doors - and more, our hearts and minds - and say, "Come in, we need you," we will have new talent and energy beyond our wildest dreams. Al tistakel b'kankan, warned our sages - don't look at the bottle, ela b'mah sheyesh bo, but at what is inside it. Inside those people whom we exclude is another great gift, another opportunity of a lifetime just waiting for us. As we learn from Abraham, "we cannot wait for the seekers to show up at our door, we must go out to meet them where they are and invite them in." 

Audacious hospitality is a transformational spiritual practice that changes all of us for the better.

Genesis teaches us that it never was simple to engage the next generation of Jews. 

God promised that the first two Jews would grow into a people more numerous than the stars in the heavens, more plentiful than the sands on the seashore. But Abraham and Sarah said, "Not a chance. We can't even have one child, let alone a multitude." Even before the advent of demographic surveys announcing our imminent doom, Abraham and Sarah had reason to worry about continuity. 

Well, you remember that Isaac and Rebecca become that next generation, fearful in turn that the divine promise will expire with them. Then along came Jacob and Esau. One loved Hebrew school. The other preferred lacrosse. One was dying to get his hands on the birthright; the other couldn't care less. We know these boys; they belong to us. 

In today's language, Esau was the first "None," a person who doesn't identify as part of the religious community. What astonishes me is that Isaac and Rebecca let him go. They give up on him because his way in the world is not their way. They decide he is not religious. Our teenage Esaus too may love sports, or comedy, or any number of things that seems more attractive than confirmation class; and when they leave home and finish college, joining synagogues may not be the most obvious destination for them. But remember how Esau appeared to Jacob when the two brothers finally met again. "To look into your face," says Jacob, "is to see the face of God." 

Al tistakel bakankan... "Do not look just at the outer signs of what our Esaus seem to prefer doing." Look deeply into their eyes and see that they, too, radiate the light of God. They may be "Nones" when it comes to organized religion; but they also may be spiritual to the core. Jewish values and community may yet become centerpieces in their lives.

This is not to say that we can ignore the facts. Harvard social scientist Robert Putnam has tracked the group called "Nones" since the late 1950s. In 1958, three percent of Americans described themselves as having no religious identification. By 2008, that number had risen to 17 percent. But for Americans in their 20s and 30s today, the number is between 30 and 40 percent. The recent Pew study on American Jewry underscores this trend. 

I am appalled at how quickly people write-off the "Nones" as hopelessly lost - not even worth the effort of outreach. 

What a mistake! The same research that documents the "Nones" reveals that many of them believe in God, have some spiritual practice, and attend worship services occasionally, even as they are allergic to institutional religion. It is the institutions as we know them that the "Nones" find distancing. 

Young "Nones" reject fundamentalist religious trends that breed intolerance, and reject science or mainline expressions that seem stylized, boring, or out of touch. But if that's what being religious means, count me out as well. I'm guessing that most of you would join me. Let's concentrate on our progressive definition of religion, which by all accounts, is not self-evident to the next generation. 

Let's stop confusing the old and tired institutional patterns of Judaism with the underlying core commitments that really count. At stake is the prophetic voice of Isaiah, the compassionate guarantees of Hosea, the wisdom of Maimonides, the loyalty of Esther - the age-old Jewish voice that insists on justice, cries for the poor, upholds human dignity, demands hope in the face of despair, and finds human purpose even when all seems lost. 

Are the "Nones" religious? If they care about these eternal verities, then they are. And I am; and you are. Let's not let others define our way of being religious. 

The next generation wants to know if we share these values, and we are not always clear on that point. They will want to do so in their own way. So let's make a pact among each other, here, today. We will not expect the next generation to be just like us, because only the eternals are not negotiable; everything else is. 

It can't be so long ago that you've forgotten when you were the outsiders and your parents rolled their eyes at you. My high school rock band told our rabbi we wanted to "wake up" Friday night services. When he reluctantly said OK, out came the black lights, amplifiers, and drums; we wrote new tunes for everything. Many in the congregation hated it; they thought Judaism was on its way down the drain. Guess what? Look at our Movement today: Those experiments morphed into expressions of Judaism that awakened and changed the status quo. 

One of Israel's most beloved voices, Arik Einstein, was silenced two weeks ago. He woke up the Jewish world by giving us such songs as Ani V'atah N'shaneh et Ha-olam - "I and You Will Change the World." But write the word atah with an ayin, not an aleph - you still get ani v'atah, but with a different meaning:  "I and now" can change the world. When is the right time for renewal? Now! We must all be the "I" who take advantage of it. The work of renewal is always, or should be, the job of the next generation that dares to stand up and say "I." Our job is to encourage them to take that responsibility.

Each of today's teens, like biblical teens, is unique. Genesis is filled with adolescents trying to find themselves through the painful struggle of spiritual, emotional, physical, and moral growth. So also today: Our youth need communities that are safe, accepting, vibrant, joyful, and grounded in Jewish spiritual values. And our offerings must stretch across the widest spectrum to draw in Rachel and Leah, as well as Joseph and all his brothers. 

Let me be specific: Currently there are around half a million young Jews between the ages of 13 and18 in North America. Most of them are not actively involved in Jewish life. When we were together in Washington, D.C., two years ago, we squarely faced the staggering statistic that 80 percent of our Movement's young people are out the door by 12th grade. I pledged to you then that our number one priority would be to turn that wide scale disaffection into deep engagement. 

So what are we doing?

Tonight, I have an exciting announcement. The innovative and influential Jim Joseph Foundation funded a rigorous process of mapping the field of Jewish youth engagement, testing our new thinking with leaders from across our Movement and beyond. Our new Jewish future is under way. You will have an opportunity to hear more about the next chapter of our Campaign for Youth Engagement at the Forum session tomorrow and, especially, during our Sunday plenary. But here are the headlines:

• We are integrating, expanding, and deepening all our youth programs, including our 14 phenomenal overnight camps, NFTY, and our Israel programs into 12-month-a-year, offerings with on-ramps for every teen, including those whose families are not members of a URJ congregation.

• We are expanding NFTY to include 6^th, 7^th and 8^th graders so we can partner with congregations, providing students with a vital bridge to post-b'nai mitzvah involvement.

• In six months we'll open our 14th URJ overnight camp, Six Points Science and Technology Camp, which will be located north of Boston.

Why should our youth have to choose between science and religion, academics and Jewish values? Our gateways into Jewish life include service learning, leadership, deep learning, social justice, arts, sports, technology, and more, all of which take place over the course of hours, days, weekends, summers, or even longer, here in North America and in Israel. Why? Let me say this as firmly as I can: We're not going to let go of any of our kids. 

Connecting our camps and congregations more deeply to each other can be transformative, as Rodef Sholom in San Rafael, CA, has demonstrated by redrawing the map of religious education for families and students, and making Camp Newman one of the primary sites for ongoing family learning and living. Across North America, a growing number of our synagogues are forging similar connections with our camps.

Deeply and truly engaging our youth is a perfect example of something that even our best congregations cannot do by themselves. The B'nai Mitzvah Revolution, jointly led by the URJ and HUC-JIR, is, therefore, convening our congregations to uncover, identify, and create model bar/bat mitzvah experiences that successfully crescendo into continued involvement and growth. Even when b'nai mitzvah ceremonies are moving and inspiring, if they don't connect our young people to their next step, we can't call them successful. Pediatric Judaism will not engage our youth or their parents. Judaism with depth and relevance will. 

Har Hashem in Boulder, CO, felt that b'nai mitzvah students spent too much time learning to decode and chant prayers, so they added a new curriculum that emphasizes God-wrestling and text studies that undergird hands-on projects of tikkun olam. The Mitzvoteinu program at Knesset Israel in Elkins Park, PA, requires students to take on social action commitments and then create a presentation - film, writing, speech, or any medium they choose - to illustrate why they believe the activity is part of becoming a Jewish adult. Almost 100 congregations are working together to reboot everything they do with b'nai mitzvah students and families so that bar and bat mitzvah mark the beginning of lifelong Jewish journeys.

An essential piece of rebooting this system will be to attract, train, and retain a new generation of well-educated, innovative youth professionals. We must reboot, not just retool, transform, not just tinker. Toward that end, we need massive doses of investment, and I am excited to announce that our vision and programs are attracting them. We owe much to the Jim Joseph Foundation, the Marcus Foundation, the Crown Family Philanthropies, and a growing number of generous individuals who are investing in our vision of a vibrant Jewish future constructed on a scale never before attempted. 

But we also owe so much to many of you in this room today. Your congregations are our most committed partners, driving the work of the URJ and HUC-JIR in shaping a stronger future, investing funds and creativity into Reform Jewish life, because you share this vision of a bold, audacious tomorrow. And many of you individually offer your financial support to our work through the Fund for Reform Judaism. We are deeply grateful; I am deeply grateful. We simply can't do it without you. 

So, what does real change look like?

To seize an historic opportunity for synergy, we are deepening our partnership with HUC-JIR. So much of our shared future is in forging new leadership. Toward this end, we will be moving many of our New York-based URJ youth professionals downtown to the first floor of HUC's Greenwich Village campus. 

The visionaries of our new youth strategy are going to interface every day with HUC's students, faculty, and administrators on all three North American campuses. As the college assertively recruits our future rabbis, cantors, educators, and youth and communal professionals, the URJ youth initiatives will create a much wider pool of future leaders. No more silos, no more moving on parallel tracks toward the same goals. The biggest challenges of Jewish life cannot be tackled separately, but must be faced together. 

The recent Pew study of Jewish Americans offers us a snapshot of reality, a close-up look at many trends - but it does not contain conclusions or remedies. Trends are a wake-up call, not our destiny. In the 1930s, the Reform Movement was shrinking, but in 1937, we repositioned ourselves to be more open to traditional Jewish practices and to no longer oppose Jewish nationalism. In 1951, we moved our headquarters to the center of the North American Jewish population in New York. These shifts changed everything! We adjusted our concept of who we are and what was needed to strengthen Jewish life. That repositioning allowed us to grow dramatically, making us, over the past half-century, the fastest-growing theologically liberal denomination of any religion in North America. And this growth is reflected in the Pew report, which finds that we are not just the largest stream of American Jewry, but larger than all the other streams combined. We must be as open to reinventing ourselves today as in the past.

To realign our priorities, just yesterday we closed on the sale of one of our two floors at 633 Third Avenue in NYC, to reinvest our own assets from bricks and mortar to people. So, we're taking a million dollars of our own funds from the sale, to supplement the major foundation grants we have received, to kick-start our dramatic redrawing of the map of youth engagement for the 21st century. 

Genesis teaches that all human encounters can reveal wisdom and holiness. 

Throughout the first book of the Torah, God speaks to our ancestors through the people they meet, in the holy moments that unfold at every turn. Abraham is blessed by Melchitzedek, Rebecca is the answer to Eliezer's prayer at the well, and an unidentified man called Ish guides Joseph to his brothers. 

We, too, must be open to hearing truths from those we meet, remembering that we hold no monopoly on wisdom. 

That's why I met recently with Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky, a cherished member of the Lubavitcher Rebbe's inner circle, who now has the responsibility of overseeing Chabad's worldwide activities. 

Shortly after we sat down in his office at 770 Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn, Rabbi Krinsky leaned forward and asked, "Rabbi Jacobs, can we be frank?" I said yes, not sure where he was going. "Why are you so busy trying to get more people into your Reform Movement? After all, you don't care about kashrut, you don't care about Shabbat, and you don't care about mitzvot, so what are you so busy doing?"

I responded, "Rabbi Krinsky, we care about kashrut, we care about Shabbat, we care about mitzvot; we just care differently. My job," I told him, "is exactly the same as yours: to try and bring more and more people close to the sacred core of Jewish life." 

The essential work for the URJ, your congregations, and our Movement going forward is to bring more and more people close to the sacred core of Jewish life. 

Doing that will require all of us, and I mean all of us, to get clear, aligned, strategic, and busy collaborating so that we can seize this moment in Jewish history - it is a moment that will never come again. 

The Pew survey tells us something crucial about Orthodox Judaism. In spite of the many Orthodox outreach efforts, including Chabad, to bring less observant Jews into greater observance, the data reveal no real success. Modern and ultra-Orthodox Jews finally now appear to be growing in number because, for the first time in a century, they are retaining their members and growing their ranks with large cohorts of children born and educated within. But otherwise, the trend is decidedly away from Orthodoxy and Conservative Judaism - toward Reform. 

There are those who would say the trend is from more observance to less, from deep and serious about Judaism to entertaining a passing fancy for it, as if Reform is a watered-down "something else." Butlook around you. Have 5,000 people come to this convention because we believe in doing less, caring less, achieving less, or being less? We came because we want to do more.

Our Judaism is for everyone. Our Judaism is inclusive, egalitarian, intellectually rigorous, joyful, passionate, spiritual, pluralistic, constantly evolving and relevant. Soul elevating spiritual practice, life-altering Torah study, courageous practice of tikkun olam, loving care for our community, especially the most vulnerable--that's what we are. Just look at this Biennial if you want to see Judaism that is all of the above and more. I believe with the very fiber of my being that young Jews are hungry, but not for a Judaism frozen in a distant time, no matter how loving and warm the purveyors - including Chabad, in particular - might be. 

We have what people are looking for, but we've been reticent to get out and say so, partly because we have yet to articulate an audacious vision of what the world can become. God bless Chabad and other outreach organizations for getting out there and sharing their beautiful expressions of Judaism with those who are interested. But theirs must not be the only voices defining Judaism. It's time to speak our minds. Let's be clear about who we are and what we have to say. 

We believe that our understanding of Judaism is right: that God did not literally hand down sacred laws in the Bible and the Mishnah at Sinai, but rather that from our encounter with the Divine, Jews have written our sacred texts, striving to understand in their own time what God called them to do.  That process has continued through the centuries, and it continues today. We are not the way out, but the way in, the way to being fully Jewish and modern, Jewish and inclusive, Jewish and universal, Jewish and compassionate, Jewish and deeply committed also to science, the arts, and the human community in its constant evolutionary spiral toward sustaining the planet and bettering life for everyone who lives upon it. 

In fact, we have already begun to get the word out. Even five years ago, had you Googled words related to Judaism, you would never have found us. We weren't anywhere near the top of the search results. So one year ago, the URJ created an outward-facing website called ReformJudaism.org, and we are now regularly at the top of the first page of Jewish Google searches. Last month, 116,000 people visited our site. This year, more than half a million individuals who came looking for Jewish substance found it with us. At ReformJudaism.org, seekers are asked if they want to connect to one of their local Reform congregations.

The time is long overdue for us to stop using Orthodox Jewish practice as the baseline against which we define our own Jewish practice. We can affirm the authenticity of other Jewish practices without conceding Jewish authenticity to them alone. Our Judaism is appealing to everyone, those from more traditional backgrounds, no Jewish backgrounds, Jews by religion, Jews by culture, and Jews by affinity. We will amply nourish all who are hungry for meaning.

Genesis teaches, in our contemporary terminology, that social justice is not a politically partisan concept, but a critical part of what God requires of all of us.

At the very beginning of Jewish history, Abraham can't abide injustice. When the rights of others are being trampled, Abraham cannot be silent, even if it means calling the Holy One to task: hoshpeit kol ha'aretz lo ya'aseh mishpat, "Will not the judge of all the earth deal justly?"  This statement is arguably the most defining religious imperative of our ancient covenant.

What have we done to advance that imperative? This year alone, our Movement has been a leading force for immigration reform nationally, and especially here in California. Reform California - an offshoot of Rabbis Organizing Rabbis, itself a project of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, Just Congregations, and the Religious Action Center - has successfully galvanized congregational leaders from across the state to raise their collective voices for the rights of immigrants. 

With the powerful leadership of our remarkable Religious Action Center, our Movement also has been at the forefront of the struggle for the freedom to marry, as well as to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would ban employment discrimination against those in the LGBT community - and which passed in the Senate last month. And in the wake of the horrific carnage in Newtown, CT, our Movement gathered religious communities together from across the entire religious spectrum to say God is weeping, not only at the death of innocent children and their teachers, but also because of our collective unwillingness to contain the epidemic of gun violence in America. All of these actions make our historic core values real in the world. 

Our sacred job is to make sure that every society in which we live cares for the poor, the vulnerable, and the forgotten. We can join political debates about how to care for the least among us, but we are forbidden to let politicians alone determine the outcomes. 

Abraham Joshua Heschel's definition of Jewishness must always be ours: A Jew is a person whose integrity decays when unmoved by the knowledge of a wrong done to other people.
The positions that represent the consensus views of those in our synagogues (according to the polls) and the leadership of our Movement (as represented by our official policies passed at our North American conventions and board meetings), have taken a progressive approach to the issues confronting America. But, liberals have no monopoly on authentic Jewish values nor on concern for social justice. And, we must always be respectful of those in our Movement who hold differing political or social justice views. Their voices need to be heard as we shape our positions and - as with every page of the Talmud, which recorded minority as well as majority opinions because eliu v'eilu, these and these were the words of the living God - we, too, must be open to learning from each other. 

It is no wonder that every poll of American Jews shows that commitment to social justice is one of, if not the most, common expression of Jewish identity among North American Jews - and can be a uniquely effective gateway to reach the unaffiliated and bring them back into Jewish life. No stream of Judaism understands better than we do that a Judaism that does not speak to the great moral issues in the lives of our young people or the great moral issues of the world they will inherit from us will fail to capture the imagination, engagement, and loyalty of the next generation.

Genesis describes a Jewish landscape that is devoid of Jewish institutions while ours is cluttered with Jewish institutions vying for relevance.

Now let me say this loudly and from the depths of my being: I believe in the centrality of the synagogue. For 2,500 years, Jews have gathered in these remarkably enduring institutions. Even as synagogues have changed constantly, they are built on the core pillars of Jewish commitment. In the first century, synagogues served as courtrooms, schools, and hostels, as well as places for political meetings, social gatherings, and communal meals and worship, as well as for dispensing justice and freeing slaves. Synagogues didn't always have classrooms or school wings or Judaica shops or youth lounges, but they have always been places for the Jewish community to do its most important work as a bet midrash (house of study), bet tefilah (house of prayer) and bet knesset (house of assembly). 

That said, in the new Jewish landscape, we must be more than a network of congregations. We are the Union for Reform Judaism, linking together a host of the most essential and engaging institutions in Jewish life. Together we can enrich the larger Jewish ecosystem so that we are nurturing and connecting with individuals before they are likely to feel attached and responsible for congregations.

Thank God that, with our partners at Taglit Birthright Israel, we are kindling a Jewish spark in so many of these young, unconnected Jews. But we must take that spark and fan it into a flame.

For example, we know that young Jewish adults are not likely to join congregations until they are settled - a process that stretches over more years than ever before. Compared to previous generations, young adults wait longer to partner and to have children - if they partner and have children at all. Even with children, they do not automatically join synagogues. 

What are we doing about it?

• The URJ has begun to partner with congregations and focus on connecting families with young children to early childhood programs in congregations, which is about a third of our URJ synagogues. For the rest of our congregations, we have begun to build new bridges to families with young children.

• Our partnership with PJ Library and the Harold Grinspoon Foundation keeps growing and increases our ability to find those unconnected young families living in our neighborhoods. The time is long past for us to expect these families to find us.

A 2010 study by Brandeis University's Mark Rosen outlined the high significance of the first years of a child's life in cementing family patterns and friendships. New parents are at a life stage when they are particularly open to connecting with other Jewish families and the Jewish tradition. This stage provides one of our greatest opportunities to connect Jewish young adults to each other and then to our congregations. This is the time when they are most asking if Judaism will live in their homes, be an anchor in the rhythm of their family's life. 

This is the time when many of us made our closest friends with the parents of our children's nursery school buddies. This opportunity motivated Temple Beth El in Charlotte, N.C, to create a program this fall called The Porch, to reach beyond their walls to attract young adults and young families to come together as a Jewish community. After hearing repeatedly from young adults on either side of the parenthood divide that friendships were often "lost" when one had children, they created The Porch, with programs in three distinct spheres: events geared toward kids; events geared toward adults; and hybrids with everyone together. Friendships are formed, families and individuals connect, and lives beat to the rhythm of Jewish time. And yes, there is a new doorway in for dozens of future members who are forming bonds that will pay spiritual dividends for all. As the ancient rabbis taught, "What is learned in early childhood is absorbed in the blood." (Avot de Rabbi Natan 24)
Synagogues are a crucial part of the 21^st-century Jewish landscape, but they are not islands unto themselves; they are connected to day schools, early childhood centers, day and overnight camps, federations, Hillels, Birthright and the wider webs of engagement and connection. The URJ has a vital role to play in connecting the crucial institutions of Jewish life to strengthen the wider ecosystem from which our congregations will be nourished.

Genesis teaches us that no matter where we live, we are bound to the land of Israel.

In Genesis, our matriarchs and patriarchs lived part of their lives in the land of Israel and also sojourned outside the land. Were it not for Joseph's inspired public policy leadership in his elevated position in the superpower of the day, the Jewish people and our homeland might not have survived. There has been interdependence between the Diaspora and Israel from the start. In this current moment, the paradigm of Jewish life is moving toward a more globally interdependent world Jewish community that shares responsibility with the State of Israel for the preservation and regeneration of the Jewish people wherever they may live. In Toronto, the new paradigm unfolds with Israeli shinshinim, pre-army teens spending the year working to connect the Leo Baeck Day School, Camp George, and our Reform congregations into a network of Israel engagement.

In recognition of that shared obligation, Betty and Arthur Roswell are enabling us to meet the needs of emerging, young, global Jewish leaders who hunger for meaningful experience and learning. Our K'lal Yisrael and Lech Lecha Fellowships will expand our world Jewry and Israel engagement work in unprecedented ways. These intensive programs will nurture and educate young people and, each year, build a cadre of leaders who possess a strong commitment to Reform Judaism, to Jewish peoplehood, and to Israel.

We are honored that on Sunday morning, we will hear about and discuss with Prime Minister Netanyahu the serious security threats facing the Jewish State and the critically important peace process. The security concerns that Israel faces are of the utmost concern to all of us. Let us never forget. Israel still remains surrounded by forces that, if they believed they could militarily destroy her, they would not hesitate to do so. Only Israel's strength, enhanced by American support, prevents this outcome. At the same time, we remain deeply committed to the proposition that a real peace process that brings about a viable Palestinian state and secure borders for Israel is indispensible for Israel's security and well-being, even as it is for Palestinian political aspirations and for U.S and Canadian foreign policy interests throughout this volatile, but vital region. We continue to hold that while Israel cannot control what the Palestinians do, it must ensure that through its own policies and actions, it must not act to undercut the prospects for peace. Settlement expansion threatens such goals.

I have no doubt that the Prime Minister will address the pressing issue of Iran. We support the efforts of the international community to find a non-military solution to the very real threat of a nuclear Iran. The next few months will be critical. But let us be clear: all options, including the military option, and the certainty of additional sanctions, should the negotiations fail, must remain on the table lest critical sources of pressure on the Iranians to enter and hold to a diplomatic solution be dissipated.

In hearing from the Vice President of the United States and the Prime Minister of Israel, we are blessed to know of insights of key leaders charged to respond to this significant challenge.

We also will hear from and speak to the Prime Minister about his commitments to make the Western Wall finally a place where every member of the Jewish people can pray according to her or his custom and conscience. I have worked closely with Natan Sharansky and the Israeli cabinet secretary to move this historic opportunity forward. Being a strong, courageous Movement means that we are busy shaping our Jewish world with our audacious commitments. 

And tonight I can share that with our Conservative Movement and Women of the Wall partners, we are close to agreements with the Israeli government that will physically reshape that holiest of Jewish sites, and for the first time give us roles in overseeing the pluralistic Judaism that will be proudly and publicly practiced there. 

Our own Anat Hoffman is most responsible for keeping the Jewish world focused on addressing the lack of an egalitarian option at the Kotel, even though the majority of the world's Jews are non-Orthodox. She is a courageous and tireless Reform Jewish leader who has awakened world Jewry to the need to make Israel home for every member of the Jewish people, starting with that venerable retaining wall of the ancient Temple. 

The Kotel is symbolically important, but our appetite for pluralism and religious freedom extends way beyond those ancient stones. The time is long overdue for equality to reign throughout the State of Israel. Because of our deep love for and commitment to the ideals of the Jewish State, we insist on equality, not just at the Western Wall, but also in rabbinical courts, under the bridal canopy, at funerals, in conversions, and in the founding and funding of our congregations. 

It cannot be that the great ingathering of the exiles will result in the only democratic state in the world that formally discriminates against the majority of the Jewish people. 

Orthodox Judaism is, of course, a legitimate choice for those who chose it, but it must no longer be the default position of the Jewish State. That does neither Judaism nor the State a service, quite the contrary. 

Our Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism is flourishing. Israelis are discovering that they have a choice, an inspiring choice, when it comes to living Jewish lives of authenticity and relevance. Tomorrow morning, our Movement's new Israel Commission will meet for the first time, bringing together every part of our Reform family that works to strengthen our bonds to the Jewish State and helps to nurture pluralistic, vibrant Judaism - radiating light for all.

We are at a tipping point. With the activism and support of this powerful North American Movement, we will yet see transformative change in the practice of Judaism in the Jewish State. 

We don't speak as supplicants, but rather as partners in this redemptive, revitalizing project of the Jewish people. The bonds that link Israel and the Diaspora are mutually strengthening, and must grow even deeper. We will not stop and we will not be stopped. 

Genesis reminds us over and over again that we're not home yet. 

We live in an unredeemed world that we are commanded to repair through small and large deeds of healing. Our sacred job is to bring more and more people close to the very core of Jewish life. In the coming years, I believe we can, and we must, grow and deepen our Movement. If we just grow larger but not deeper, we will be big but shallow, a mile wide and an inch deep. If we grow deeper but not larger, we will matter greatly but only to a smaller and smaller circle, a silo rather that a movement.

Are we done? Have we finished reimagining the Jewish future and rebooting the URJ? Of course not; the work is ever ongoing. But we dare not lose sight of all the strengths and blessings of this remarkable Movement of ours.

At the end of each section of Torah we say: chazak, chazak, v'nitchazek - be strong, be strong and be strengthened. We are living at a time when the Jewish people is moving from one chapter to the next in the great saga of our people. We look back on what we have achieved since the founding of Reform Judaism and we recognize the enormity of our accomplishments and the multitude of strengths we have brought to Jewish life. 

With all the enormous challenges we face, this is, paradoxically, a Golden Age of the Jewish people. The Jewish State has been reborn and is a powerful democracy living out the destiny of the Jewish people. And here in North America, more synagogues, more Jewish start-ups, more Jewish camps, more courses of Jewish study, more Jewish PhDs, more Jewish books, more Jewish music, dance, art, and literature are being created, and more people, adults and the young, are visiting Israel than at almost any other period in Jewish history. We have more Jews living in democratic nations that have given us more freedoms, more rights, more opportunities than we have ever known outside the land of Israel. 

So indeed, I say to you at this beginning of a new chapter of Jewish life: chazak chazak v'nitchazek. Be strong, be strong, and let us all strengthen each other. Look to the future with confidence, for ours is an awesome agenda. 

There are tremendous waves cresting all around us, my friends, and I, for one, refuse to sit on the shore in fear and trembling. This is our moment. It's time to for us to ride the biggest waves with newfound skill and balance. 

Let's get busy igniting souls with the fire of our lived Torah and connect them to one another in vibrant communities as we shape a world of compassion, wholeness, joy, and justice. And then, truly, you and I together, we can change the world and through the work of our hands, bring closer the day when we will live out God's promise: - "through you all of the families of the earth will be blessed." 

May that be the blessing of our gathering, the blessing of the work of our communities, and the blessing of our lives. 

Stroke of Insight

As a follow-up to our previous post, The Less Than Perfect God of Hebrew Scripture, the subject of life after death and the idea of the soul was part of our recent discussion revolving around the Mishneh Torah of Moses Maimonides, as part of our Saturday morning Torah study led by Rabbi Barry Schwartz.

In the course of discussion, Jill Bolte Taylor's Stroke of Insight Ted Talk was mentioned, as it is an attempt  to bridge the spiritual and the biological, albeit outside of any specific religious context.

It seems only fitting, then, to share that video here on our congregational blog, with the understanding that this does not represent any official view on the subject matter:



 
Whatever you may think of Taylor's perspective on the world, the two hemispheres might be taken as paralleling the contrast between Athens and Jerusalem. The subject of left and right brain hemispheres was addressed by the physician Leonard Shlain, the subject of the documentary we screened here at Adas Emuno this past August, Connected (see our previous posts, Get Connected at Adas Emuno and Connecting to Leonia Life). And we certainly can relate to the connection here between brain and heart, and for both this talk provides some food for thought!

Appearances

I served as lay leader again this past Friday evening, substituting for Rabbi Schwartz (thankfully, he will be back on the pulpit this coming Shabbat).  I shared my D'Var Torah from Friday before last here on our congregation blog in a post entitled Go Forth, and in this post I'd like to share my talk for this past Shabbat evening.  The parsha for this week, Vayeira, continues the story of Abraham, and provides a serendipitous opportunity to reflect upon Hurricane Sandy.


In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, it is certainly appropriate to gives thanks for our survival, to say shehecheyanu, as this event reminds us of the awesome power of nature, of creation.  And it reminds us of how fragile everything we've built really is, how quickly it would all disappear if we were not able to continually feed and maintain it.  It reminds us of how small we really are, after all.

We call such events acts of God, and even when the phrase is used simply as a metaphor, it serves as a reminder that we are not in control, that there are forces greater than ourselves, that there is so much we don't know and don't understand about the universe, that we are very, very small indeed in the face of it all.

And yet we have these amazing minds, capable of learning, and passing on what we know, of accumulating our knowledge from one generation to another.  We possess minds capable of relating to one another, of feeling empathy and extending a helping hand, of asking for help and asking if anyone needs help, of entering into dialogue to understand each other better, and understand our world better than before. And most of all, we possess minds capable of asking questions, and letting those questions guide us, leading us in search of answers, and while the answers we get may change as our understanding expands, the good questions that we ask continue to serve us over the centuries.

This weeks Torah portion includes the story of another natural disaster, or act of God, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. What it says is

And God caused to rain down upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from heaven. And He turned over these cities and the entire plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and the vegetation of the ground. And Lot's wife looked from behind her, and she became a pillar of salt. And Abraham arose early in the morning to the place where he had stood before God. And he looked over the face of Sodom and Gomorrah and over the entire face of the land of the plain, and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the earth had risen like the smoke of a furnace. (Genesis 19: 24-28)

From a modern, scientific point of view, we can understand these events as being caused by possibly an earthquake, probably a volcanic eruption, much like the well-documented destruction of the Roman city of Pompeii in the year 79 of the common era, less than a decade after the Romans destroyed the Second Temple in Jerusalem (not that I'm implying any connection, of course, but then again, you never know...). The story of Lot's wife being turned into a pillar of salt uses a common folk motif where the individual is instructed not to look back, does so, and forfeits the rescue being granted by a greater power. And if you've ever traveled to the Dead Sea in Israel, you can see there natural pillars consisting of the sea salts left behind due to evaporation, so her specific fate plays upon that natural phenomenon.  And we can understand the story of Sodom and Gomorrah as an attempt to explain a natural disaster in supernatural terms, but more importantly, it is an occasion for a moral lesson. On a simple level, it's the idea that God punishes the wicked, but there's something more sophisticated at work here.

The Torah portion begins with God appearing to Abraham—the name of the parsha is Vayeira, which means And He appeared, and it continues the story of Abraham from the previous parsha. But of course God does not actually appear in visual form. What Abraham sees is three men, and he recognizes that they are more than what they seem, and welcomes them and shows them great hospitality. Hospitality is one of the great virtues in the ancient world, one of the highest values, and to be a host is to be under great obligation to treat your guests well.

So God, in the form of the three men, tell Abraham and Sarah that at this time next year Sarah will give birth to a son, and Sarah laughs at the ridiculous notion of giving birth in her old age. How very human that is! But God chides Sarah for questioning Him, and Sarah being afraid, denies laughing, which is also an altogether human, understandable response. And God basically says, don't kid a kidder, I know you were laughing. But that's all He does, He doesn't punish Sarah in any way, which suggests that he accepts her skepticism, and knows that she will be convinced when the miracle of birth actually occurs.

Then God decides to tell Abraham about his intention to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, and this results in what Rabbi Schwartz refers to as one of the great debates of Judaism (see Judaism's Great Debates).  Here's how it reads:

And Abraham approached and said, "Will You even destroy the righteous with the wicked? Perhaps there are fifty righteous men in the midst of the city; will You even destroy and not forgive the place for the sake of the fifty righteous men who are in its midst? Far be it from You to do a thing such as this, to put to death the righteous with the wicked so that the righteous should be like the wicked. Far be it from You! Will the Judge of the entire earth not perform justice?" And the Lord said, "If I find in Sodom fifty righteous men within the city, I will forgive the entire place for their sake." And Abraham answered and said, "Behold now I have commenced to speak to the Lord, although I am dust and ashes. Perhaps the fifty righteous men will be missing five. Will You destroy the entire city because of five?" And He said, "I will not destroy if I find there forty-five." And he continued further to speak to Him, and he said, "Perhaps forty will be found there." And He said, "I will not do it for the sake of the forty. And he said, "Please, let the Lord's wrath not be kindled, and I will speak. Perhaps thirty will be found there." And He said, "I will not do it if I find thirty there." And he said, "Behold now I have desired to speak to the Lord, perhaps twenty will be found there." And He said, "I will not destroy for the sake of the twenty." And he said, "Please, let the Lord's wrath not be kindled, and I will speak yet this time, perhaps ten will be found there." And He said, "I will not destroy for the sake of the ten." And the Lord departed when He finished speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place. (18: 23-33)

A debate yes, clearly, but what else is going on here? Haggling!  As an archaic practice, haggling may see strange to us, possibly quaint, maybe irritating, but it is important to understand that as far as transactions go, haggling was the norm until the last couple of centuries. Before Gutenberg's printing press in the 16th century, fixed prices were inconceivable. And it took a few centuries after that invention for the idea to evolve of listing prices in print, publishing them, making them public in other words, so they become fixed and non-negotiable.  We have become so distanced from this basic human mode of engagement that almost all of us feel extreme discomfort when prices are not clearly fixed, for example when buying a car, we're never quite sure if we got a good deal or not.  And its even worse when dealing with real estate. But in traditional cultures, haggling is form of social exchange, not just monetary exchange.  It's a sign of respect, dealing with the other person as a human being and not a thing, an I-You not an I-It, to use Martin Buber's terms.  When we go to a society where haggling is the norm and we just want to pay the price and not haggle, it can be seen as an insult, a form of dismissal, rejection, dehumanization. Or at best, it marks us for a fool.  So what this passage indicates is that we can haggle with God, that God treats us not as property or servants, but as beings worthy of respect and engagement.

Understanding haggling also helps us to understand the next series of events in the Torah portion, specifcially Lot's actions before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, when God sends two angels to Sodom, and Lot provides them with hospitality much like Abraham did with the three men:

And the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom, and Lot saw and arose toward them, and he prostrated himself on his face to the ground. And he said, "Behold now my lords, please turn to your servant's house and stay overnight and wash your feet, and you shall arise early and go on your way." And they said, "No, but we will stay overnight in the street." And he urged them strongly, and they turned in to him, and came into his house, and he made them a feast, and he baked unleavened cakes, and they ate. When they had not yet retired, and the people of the city, the people of Sodom, surrounded the house, both young and old, the entire populace from every end[of the city]. And they called to Lot and said to him, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, and let us be intimate with them." And Lot came out to them to the entrance, and he shut the door behind him. And he said, "My brethren, please do not do evil. Behold now I have two daughters who were not intimate with a man. I will bring them out to you, and do to them as you see fit; only to these men do nothing, because they have come under the shadow of my roof." (19:1-8)

From a modern point of view, this is horrifying. As much as it shows the great importance attached to the value of hospitality in the ancient world, it also seems to reflect the low status of women, treated like property rather than as human beings. But could Lot really have been this callous about his own daughters, as a father, and as a righteous person? I think this part of the story is better understood as Lot attempting to haggle with the Sodomites.  He started with two daughters, then he could have asked them to accept only one, then perhaps asked them to substitute  himself instead of them, then maybe substituted something else of value, say his livestock. For people who are not literate, dramatic gestures and extreme statements are understood an invitation to dialogue and negotiation. That the Sodomites refuse his invitation to negotiate is a violation of the social contract that serves as the foundation for haggling, and further indication of their evil. This part of the story ends with the Sodomites punished by the angels, who strike them blind, a prelude to their annihilation the next day.

So, Sodom and Gomorrah could have been saved if there had been only ten righteous individuals, and ten of course is the required number for a minyan.  For the sake of ten righteous individuals, a community is not destroyed, so what if there are less than ten?  Then, you should leave. That's what Lot did with his wife and daughters.  He tried to bring along their fiances as well, but they laughed at Lot and stayed behind, and perished. But the point here is that it is not enough to be a righteous individual, not enough to be one, you have to be part of at least ten.  The emphasis is not on the individual, but the community. You can't be righteous alone.

I think it's important to stress what is absent. Sodom and Gomorrah do not have ten righteous individuals, making them the archetype of evil. But it is hard to imagine any other city or town or community with less than ten good people present. So what the story also tells us is that even if we are ourselves sinners and not blameless, we must respect and treasure the righteous among us, because it is for their sake that life goes on. And we never can be quite sure when their number might dip below ten, so we're all well served to emulate them, and get others to do so as well. But because it seems so unlikely to find a city where there are less than ten good persons, it all but amounts to a guarantee that God won't punish and destroy our community. Which means, if anything happens like Hurricane Sandy, it's not God punishing us, so there must be some other reason. And that opens the door to alternate explanations, such as supplied by science.

It's the same for the story of Noah. As much as it's about God deciding to punish the entire world for the wickedness of people, in the end it's a guarantee that that is exactly what he will not do ever again, a promise sealed by the rainbow.

This also helps to understand the other major story in this week's Torah portion, the binding of Isaac, which we also read on Rosh Hashanah. On the surface, the story is about Abraham's obedience to God, his willingness to sacrifice his own son, and the understanding that when it comes to acts of God, it's not a democracy, not like this coming Tuesday when we are obligated as citizens to take part in the democratic process.  When it comes to God's laws and decress, we don't get a vote.

And while we might understand that this is meant to indicate Abraham's deep trust and devotion for God, still it strikes a dissonant chord with our modern sensibilities. So we struggle with this story, which has such a central position in our tradition that we retell it during our High Holy Days. But what I want to suggest is that we think about what is missing from the story.

One thing that is missing is the context. In the world that Abraham inhabited, human sacrifice, and the sacrifice of children was not unheard of, and in fact was a part of common ritual practice of many cults in that region, and throughout the world and into the modern era. Some may have practiced this ritual reluctantly, some with great sadness, some may have defied the tradition and been punished, executed, or forced to run away. But others practiced it joyfully, believing that those being sacrificed would be rewarded in the next world, to join with the divine in heavenly paradise. We know all too well that this belief persists to this very day, resulting in suicidal acts of violence.

In that context, God telling Abraham to sacrifice his son to Him, and Abraham being willing to go ahead with it, makes perfect sense, and seems perfectly legitimate. It's simply the accepted norm for cultures of that region in those ancient times, and that's why Abraham doesn't even bother to argue the point, unlike the case of Sodom and Gomorrah which was an unusual, extraordinary case. And if it seems so very difficult to put ourselves in their place, consider the following hypothetical scenario once posed by a philosophy professor: An alien god comes down to earth and makes the following offer to the people of the United States of America.  He says, I will give you a gift that will vastly increase your freedom and mobility, and in return, all that I ask is that you sacrifice something on the order of 30,000,  40,000,  50,000 lives to me every year. Would any of you take the deal?  Of course not.  But that is exactly the bargain we made when we adopted the automobile as a technology.  Cars are the third leading cause of death in the US, and first among our young people.  And yet we celebrate rather than weep when our children get their driver's licenses. Also, consider how going to war was viewed a century ago, when people held parades as boys marched off to battle, and everyone spoke of the glory of war. Today we may view military service as honorable, or some may differ on that point, but no one sees it as desirable.  And what is war, after all, but the ritual sacrifice of young men?

So the great surprise, the shock and awe if you like, in the story of the binding of Isaac is not Abraham's unquestioning obedience, but God sending an angel to stop him, saying: 

Do not stretch forth your hand to the lad, nor do the slightest thing to him, for now I know that you are a God fearing man, and you did not withhold your son, your only one, from Me. (22: 12). 

What counts is what doesn't happen, that God establishes once and for all that he does not want human sacrifice. So the sacrifice of the ram takes the place of Isaac, and the idea of substitution opens the door to further substitutions, so that after the destruction of the Temple, prayer is used to substitute for the ritual sacrifice of animals, and this ability to substitute words for ritual acts reflects a higher form of consciousness.

Last week, I mentioned that we cannot demonstrate a negative in a narrative, except by showing it in positive terms, and then having it punished or otherwise denied. This was the case in the episode in which Abraham has to say that Sarah is his sister and Pharaoh is punished for trying to take her away (see Go Forth), and the motif is repeated in this Torah portion with Sarah and another king, Abimelech. And in the same way, to dramatize that God forbids human sacrifice, we must tell the story of how Abraham was ready to engage in this ritual practice, and God stopped him. It has the same meaning as a commandment that would say, Thou shalt not engage in human sacrifice.

What our tradition teaches us is how we can struggle to gain higher levels of understanding, of justice, compassion, and humility, how our ancestors struggled to raise their consciousness, and how we can emulate them by carrying on that struggle today, to understand, to help and heal our world, repair and continue the process of creation, through our imperfect efforts at democratic participation, social justice, through education, and as seekers asking questions about the sacred dimension of the universe.