Yom Kippur 5773

As president of my synagogue, I have the honor of addressing the congregation each year on Kol Nidre. It gives me an opportunity to speak about community, synagogue life and the future of Judaism--all things about which I care passionately. Here is the speech I gave this year.

A father in Florida calls his grown son in New Jersey. “David,” he says, “I am going to ask your mother for a divorce.”

The son is shocked, “After 55 years? We just saw you a few months ago and everything seemed fine."  

“It’s something I need to do,” the father says. “First thing tomorrow, I am calling my lawyer.”

“Look,” the son replies, “If you haven’t done anything yet, it’s not too late. It’s almost Rosh HaShanah. I’ll come down there and we can talk. Just wait until I get there.”

The father agrees. David calls his sister Judy who lives in the neighboring town and delivers the news. The siblings make last minute plans to take their families to Florida and stage an intervention. 

Judy calls her father that evening. “Daddy,” she says, emotion in her voice. "David called me. What's going on? Please, give this some time and think it through. David and I are coming for the holiday. We’ll sit down, discuss the situation and work it out before it’s too late.” 

The father hangs up the phone. He turns to his wife and says, “Okay,I got them here for Rosh HaShanah, but you are going to have to come up with something really good for Passover.

There is something inherently Jewish about this joke. It's not just the holidays—I could have easily substituted Easter and Christmas for Passover and Rosh Hashanah. But the underlying theme—the message to create space in our lives for what is important—is the very foundation on which our religion is built.

The first lesson in our Torah instructs us to take one day a week away from work to focus on what is truly important—our blessings, our families, ourselves, and God.

Despite this suggestion, for many of us, it is often easier to make time for emergencies than it is for joys or celebrations.  It’s not that we don’t appreciate life’s pleasures, but we get caught up in our obligations—which are real and do require attention. We fall into the habit of merely trying to avoid the negative.

Not too long ago, a significant portion of American Jewish identity was defined in reaction to the Holocaust. Being Jewish was often more about denial and defiance than it was about spirituality and community. After facing a very real, modern day threat of annihilation, Jews were forced to confront blatant, and latent, anti-Semitism.

As a result, American Jews began demanding equalities that had been denied. Fear translated into action and engagement, and as Judaism became more openly accepted, unparalleled levels of opportunity and Jewish engagement emerged.

While most agree that we are still in that period, articles in Jewish journals are often gloomy about the future. With fewer than 14 million Jews worldwide—and a growth rate half that of the general population—many predict that the end of this Jewish Renaissance period is near.

I do not agree that we are approaching an end. And, I am not certain these doomsayers believe it either. Perhaps they are trying to get us to act, to participate in a bigger conversation.

By playing on our worst fears, our Jewish pundits want to inspire us to prove them wrong. Tell people that without their commitment to synagogues, to ritual, to communal life, the Jewish religion will die and they will be forced to take action.

After all, fear works. Stores advertise limited quantities because consumers react to scarcity. It’s instinct to rush to a bedside of a gravely ill relative, even if we visited less frequently when that person was healthy.  A synagogue may find it relatively easy to raise money to rebuild after a tragedy, but may struggle to fund an expansion to serve a growing population.

Now, I am the last person to discourage any kind of Jewish engagement. The result of widespread, long-lasting indifference would be catastrophic and is unacceptable.

I am stating that we need a better approach. A fear based marketing tactic is nearly impossible to sustain and can leave us emotionally wanting. More importantly, it is the antithesis of our heritage. While Judaism gives us tools to deal with crisis, our texts and customs do not prescribe a crisis-based religion.

Judaism is about taking action, about partnering with community and God to create a meaningful future. Despite comedic stereotypes of guilt and gloom, Judaism is weighted far more toward optimism and opportunity than toward fear and punishment. Our path was never meant to be defined by proving naysayers wrong, but by envisioning, embracing and ensuring our potential.

We must lead with that promise, embrace and celebrate Judaism’s rich history, meaningful rituals, and emphasis on community and ethics that offer a compelling way of life for each to interpret, shape and make our own. We are in the middle of a fantastic journey that began thousands of years ago and is guiding us to a future filled with possibility and hope.

This future is created every day here at Rodeph Sholom. Our programs, activities and accomplishments should fill all of us with optimism and excitement.

In the past year, more than 1740 families were members of our congregation. Nearly 400 people studied in adult education classes. 103 children became b’nai mitzvah.  Almost 800 individuals served our community on Mitzvah Day. Our monthly Shabbat b’Shir services were overflowing and on many Saturday mornings we offered 5 different Shabbat experiences. We sent nearly 50 students to Israel on various programs, in addition to two family trips that were filled to capacity and a Jewish heritage tour of Spain.

This year, our community is showing every sign that it will continue to grow with an increased number of new members,all of whom, thanks to your generosity, we are able to welcome, no matter what their financial situation.

We are re-invigorating our already thriving community service programs. We will, once again I’m sure, tomorrow collect record amounts of much needed food to donate to local food banks. Our ritual experiences for New York’s special needs population, including last week’s Rosh Hashanah service, are rapidly expanding.  Tomorrow afternoon, those praying in the Schafler will test a new High Holy Day prayer book, serving as pilot site for the national Reform Jewish community. And again this year, more than 100 children from Rodeph Sholom will become b'nai mitzvah.

We at Rodeph Sholom are not reacting to fear. We are running to the future with arms open wide. Our vision is clear, our goals are simple:

Create ritual, impart knowledge, build community and inspire righteous deeds.  

This is our offer, OUR marketing message, and this is the foundation that will attract, sustain and nourish generations to come.

To those who predict the end of synagogue life, who bemoan the diminished commitment of children to study ancient texts, who mourn the loss of community engagement, I invite you to come here. To pray, study and serve with Rodeph Sholom is to experience the true potential of Jewish communal life.  No one should settle for anything less.

Of course, there is more to do. We can always improve -- and I will ask for your assistance in doing so. We would like to reach more people through service opportunities. Our programs to connect with the unaffiliated will continue. Our efforts to create meaningful prayer experiences for different segments of our community will increase. And our plans to better engage our youth, literally our future, will grow with enhanced offerings and, soon, we hope, with improved physical space for programming.

When I consider the possibilities, I am filled with eagerness, and hope that you are too. With your ongoing commitment, we will engage people through excitement and anticipation, not fear and obligation. We will offer compelling ritual, study and service opportunities. And we will continue to educate, nurture and inspire the children who will sustain and expand our heritage. It will be a wonderful, sacred journey and I look forward to taking it with you.

Thank you for your support, participation and generosity. I am honored to have this role in our community.

My family joins me in wishing you a g'mar tov and a 5773 blessed with hope, happiness, health and peace. Shanah tovah.

Israel’s Hidden Crisis

The teacher stands in front of the sparse classroom. The walls are bare, the paint peeling -- “this school looks like a prison,” one of my fellow travelers whispers. Many of the children are huddled in coats; schools in this neighborhood do not have heat and the unexpected rain and cool air chill the room.

Overcrowded classrooms, minimal instruction hours in core subjects and a shortage of qualified teachers have taken a toll on the country’s education system. These children must study in an NGO-funded afterschool program to gain the basic academic foundation they need to break the cycle of poverty.

One might think I am describing a Third World country, but this scene took place a few weeks ago in Israel. A country that leads the world in patents per capita, is known for its technology startups and boasts 10 Nobel laureates, Israel also leads the world in some other frightening statistics.

On the most recent PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) Exam, Israeli students ranked 25th out of students from 25 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development counties in academic achievements. Israel’s weakest students scored below the weakest students from all other participating OECD countries, and Israel’s strongest studentsscored 24th out of 25 countries tested.

The children are products of an education system that has been in decline for decades. Studies by many leading organizations, including Israel’s own Taub Center, reveal the link between a country’s educational achievement and its economic stability. As Israel's education levels have decreased, wages have declined and quality of life has dropped.

Israel will likely wrestle with the ramifications of having at least one generation of under-educated children who are ill suited to compete in the today’s world. If trends continues, wages will continue to drop, leaving more people under- or unemployed and increasingly reliant on the government for existence. What kind of picture does that paint for Israel’s future?

To be sure, education is just one of Israel’s pressing societal issues. Last summer, Israelis demanded access to more affordable housing, medical care and other basic necessities. In addition to the need for social infrastructure, outside pressures are also very real. Just a few weeks ago, approximately 200,000 children in southern Israel could not even attend school because of missile attacks from Gaza.

The answer to Israel’s education woes is not simple, but here are just a few steps Israel could consider to move in the right direction:

Put more emphasis and resources on the core subjects critical for participation in a global economy.
Recently, I have been hearing demands for increased emphasis on Jewish studies or Zionist history in the public school curriculum. I am not commenting on the importance of these subjects. I am merely stating that Israeli children will need to excel in math, science and literacy to succeed in a global workforce. Those core subjects need to get the attention first.

Improve training, support and pay for teachers
Israeli teachers are woefully underpaid when compared to their OECD peers. They also receive less training and professional development. Give lsraeli teachers the tools, training and mentoring they need to improve classroom outcomes.

Raise the standards for becoming a teacher
If the government gives more, it should get more in return. Most Israeli teachers graduate from one of many 3-year teacher colleges; the range of requirements and quality varies greatly among these schools. Teachers are not required to have a 4 year-university degree, let alone a Masters or other advanced degree. Require the academic excellence of the teachers we want from the children.

Reach the children who have been “left behind”
Systemic change takes time. Meanwhile, a whole generation of children remains ill-equipped to handle the complexities of today’s workforce. Get them the programs they need to catch up and to maximize their academic achievement. It may feel like a band-aid approach, but we can’t let communities bleed to death.

These are just four steps—there are many others to consider and the challenge can seem overwhelming. However, as the sense of urgency surrounding this crisis continues to grow, I am confident that a partnership of government, NGOs and philanthropists can create the long term solution that will enable Israel to not just survive, but thrive.

(note, this piece was originally published on March 29 on JTA.org )