Rabbi Irwin Wiener, D.D.
Scripture is filled with religious understanding of God and Israel and God and the world. It brings God into a universal setting and enables the Children of Israel to fully comprehend their mission: to teach the oneness of God and the part that God plays in the life that was created.
There is no absolute proof of the existence of God. Judaism teaches that God has provided enough clues. However, each of us must arrive at a conclusion ourselves. For example: the incident of the Golden Calf is part of that process. While we cannot see, we still yearn to find something tangible to cling to.
Jews have always questioned the reality of God, not because they doubted, but rather to relate to the purpose of creation and our place in the unending evolution of humanity's journey from birth to death. That is why we are called Israel-one who struggles with God. We question because that is our obligation. We don't accept blindly. We need and want to know exactly who is calling us and why.
It is not hard to deny the absoluteness of God. There is war and killing. There is famine and desolation. There is crime and tragedy. There is sickness and despair. Innocent people die, and evil people don't.
And yet, we have understood from the lesson of the Golden Calf that it is not hard to believe. There is beauty and nature. There is orderliness and seasons. There is complexity and simplicity. There is the ability to create and enjoy what has been created. There is the capacity to love and be loved.
Creation contains all these ingredients of life. It consists of birds that fly, trees that bloom, bodies that incorporate the most complex system of veins and vessels and limbs and organs. It contains birth and death and the journey that is in between. It involves thinking and reasoning and conclusions.
Faith is not easy. Our inclination is to doubt. Imagine: during the Exodus from slavery in Egypt the people witnessed wonders and signs and redemption and freedom. And yet there was doubt. Did anyone beside Moses talk to God? Has anyone beside Moses seen even a glimpse of God's magnificence?
The people of Israel had to learn that faith requires listening and hearing and seeing and touching and feeling. We accomplish this through prayer and deed. We reason with God by questioning our need for relationships. We see God through our connection with one another. We can't have a feeling for God if we don't have a concept of togetherness.
And then there is the question of evil. How do we reconcile evil and God? Why would God put evil and temptation, the temptation of the Golden Calf, in front of us if the intention was to bring the harmony of heaven to Earth?
I would suggest that we ask the wrong questions. We should not be asking why or what or where. We should ask how - how do we, humankind, relieve the suffering and the misery and the pain?
God created us to enhance the creation process. We can dance around idols - the idols of indifference, the idols of intolerance, the idols of callousness - but we must conclude that just as we continue, so does creation and our Creator. God knows we make mistakes but also hopes that we will make the right choices.
Our participation in the journey of independence begins with the census of the people because the ultimate test will be who stands for those attributes that will guarantee our survival. The message is quite clear: God does not need slogans. God doesn't need arrogance of thought or suppression of ideas. God does need for us to remember our origin, our foibles and our potential.
There is no straight path to God. And we will encounter detours and bumps in the road. Labels are not the answer to finding God; images such as a Golden Calf certainly will not bring us closer to our final destination. What we need is sincerity of purpose and the realization that as we are different, so is the voyage as we continue to seek unity with God.
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Thursday, June 26, 2008
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
A Glimps Into The Future
Rabbi Irwin Wiener, D.D.
September is approaching and with it the High Holiday season. The holidays are late. Are they ever on time? This year, however, they are really late. September will have almost left before we start the process of re-examining our lives and evaluating the past and contemplating the future.
We begin by preparing for this period with Selichot utterances daily and then Selichot night comes and we are filled with anticipation. What is it that we are expected to do? What significance does this period hold in our understanding of what is required of us? Why prepare? Holidays come and go, but this particular time of the year leads us into a period of self-evaluation. How awesome!
We should not only ask that our sins be forgiven so to cancel all that transpired. Rather we should develop a better insight into who we are so that our faith can be enhanced and our lives become fuller. That is why preparation is necessary.
The Chofetz Chaim, the saintly sage, reminds us that the ultimate question we should ask is not what we want from God but rather what God wants for us. Observe carefully, not what God wants from us – what God wants for us. There is a difference. We are always asking God for different things. Sometimes we know that they are unreasonable requests, but we ask never the less. But if we take a moment to think about what God wants for us, we can understand the essence of our relationship with the Divine and our purpose for being.
So what does God want for us? It is really very simple: Life was breathed into us to enhance the process of creation. What value is there to creation if there is no one to enjoy it, to live it? How do we accomplish this? That is the eternal question.
There is a Midrash that talks about a conversation God has with the angels. In it God is determining whether to give the Torah to humanity. The angels are incensed that they were not being considered to receive such a treasure. God then explains that giving the Torah to the angels would be tantamount to giving it to no one. Only human beings can appreciate and enjoy and even strive for those ideals contained therein. Heavenly beings cannot appreciate good and evil, reward and punishment, adoration and fealty.
Additionally, the Torah deals with human frailty and is a repository of the development of mankind with all their foibles. It speaks of our origins. It details our history. It shows that, while God is perfection, creation is filled with imperfections that require people to make right. This is called choice, and for sure it is the nature of our partnership.
If Adam and Eve remained in the Garden of Eden where would ambition and life’s interests be found? Life would hold no incentives or goals. We would wander around, day after day, smelling the roses, enjoying the fruit, and never wanting for anything
Sounds ideal but think how boring. Think about days not turning into nights, weeks not turning into months and months not turning into years. What would be the purpose of time? Eating from the “tree of knowledge” was necessary because it enabled us to understand that there is a beginning and an end. We were banished from the Garden because to then eat from the “tree of life” would have meant that there would be no potential for growth.
What does God want for us? Perhaps that can best be answered as follows: There was an Oracle who could see the past and the present and even into the future. All knowing and all powerful he presented a challenge to a little boy who wanted nothing more than to show that the Oracle was not the magician he was thought to be. To trick the Oracle and show him up was his goal.
He devised a plan whereby he would catch a bird and hold it in his hand behind his back and then confront the Oracle with the question as to whether the bird was alive or dead. If the Oracle declared the bird to be alive, he would squeeze the life out of the bird and show that the Oracle was not all knowing. If, on the other hand, the Oracle would say that the bird was dead, he would show the bird to be alive and well.
His plan solid in his mind, he started out to confront the Oracle. When he found him, he asked his question holding the bird tightly behind his back “Is the bird I hold in my hands behind my back, alive or dead?” The Oracle then replied, “The answer to that question is in your hands.”
This is what God wants for us: To take life, with all its ups and downs, firmly in our hands and be what we can be, do what we can do, without regard for reward, without expectations. To live life because it is a gift. To understand that life contains joys as well as sorrows. To realize that there is a beginning as there is an end. To treat all that is in between with respect and dignity as God did when our souls were given to us. And to imagine all that can be because we have the capacity to create as well.
Perhaps, if we consider all this, the High Holidays will have added meaning. We will not fear the future but rather experience the thrill of planning that future. After all, it is September, and this is the time set aside to do just that.
September is approaching and with it the High Holiday season. The holidays are late. Are they ever on time? This year, however, they are really late. September will have almost left before we start the process of re-examining our lives and evaluating the past and contemplating the future.
We begin by preparing for this period with Selichot utterances daily and then Selichot night comes and we are filled with anticipation. What is it that we are expected to do? What significance does this period hold in our understanding of what is required of us? Why prepare? Holidays come and go, but this particular time of the year leads us into a period of self-evaluation. How awesome!
We should not only ask that our sins be forgiven so to cancel all that transpired. Rather we should develop a better insight into who we are so that our faith can be enhanced and our lives become fuller. That is why preparation is necessary.
The Chofetz Chaim, the saintly sage, reminds us that the ultimate question we should ask is not what we want from God but rather what God wants for us. Observe carefully, not what God wants from us – what God wants for us. There is a difference. We are always asking God for different things. Sometimes we know that they are unreasonable requests, but we ask never the less. But if we take a moment to think about what God wants for us, we can understand the essence of our relationship with the Divine and our purpose for being.
So what does God want for us? It is really very simple: Life was breathed into us to enhance the process of creation. What value is there to creation if there is no one to enjoy it, to live it? How do we accomplish this? That is the eternal question.
There is a Midrash that talks about a conversation God has with the angels. In it God is determining whether to give the Torah to humanity. The angels are incensed that they were not being considered to receive such a treasure. God then explains that giving the Torah to the angels would be tantamount to giving it to no one. Only human beings can appreciate and enjoy and even strive for those ideals contained therein. Heavenly beings cannot appreciate good and evil, reward and punishment, adoration and fealty.
Additionally, the Torah deals with human frailty and is a repository of the development of mankind with all their foibles. It speaks of our origins. It details our history. It shows that, while God is perfection, creation is filled with imperfections that require people to make right. This is called choice, and for sure it is the nature of our partnership.
If Adam and Eve remained in the Garden of Eden where would ambition and life’s interests be found? Life would hold no incentives or goals. We would wander around, day after day, smelling the roses, enjoying the fruit, and never wanting for anything
Sounds ideal but think how boring. Think about days not turning into nights, weeks not turning into months and months not turning into years. What would be the purpose of time? Eating from the “tree of knowledge” was necessary because it enabled us to understand that there is a beginning and an end. We were banished from the Garden because to then eat from the “tree of life” would have meant that there would be no potential for growth.
What does God want for us? Perhaps that can best be answered as follows: There was an Oracle who could see the past and the present and even into the future. All knowing and all powerful he presented a challenge to a little boy who wanted nothing more than to show that the Oracle was not the magician he was thought to be. To trick the Oracle and show him up was his goal.
He devised a plan whereby he would catch a bird and hold it in his hand behind his back and then confront the Oracle with the question as to whether the bird was alive or dead. If the Oracle declared the bird to be alive, he would squeeze the life out of the bird and show that the Oracle was not all knowing. If, on the other hand, the Oracle would say that the bird was dead, he would show the bird to be alive and well.
His plan solid in his mind, he started out to confront the Oracle. When he found him, he asked his question holding the bird tightly behind his back “Is the bird I hold in my hands behind my back, alive or dead?” The Oracle then replied, “The answer to that question is in your hands.”
This is what God wants for us: To take life, with all its ups and downs, firmly in our hands and be what we can be, do what we can do, without regard for reward, without expectations. To live life because it is a gift. To understand that life contains joys as well as sorrows. To realize that there is a beginning as there is an end. To treat all that is in between with respect and dignity as God did when our souls were given to us. And to imagine all that can be because we have the capacity to create as well.
Perhaps, if we consider all this, the High Holidays will have added meaning. We will not fear the future but rather experience the thrill of planning that future. After all, it is September, and this is the time set aside to do just that.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Aging
Rabbi Irwin Wiener, D.D.
Bad things happen to us. We tend to regard the misery that surrounds us as foreign and far removed. That is our defense mechanism. The truth, however, is that things that cause pain are real and lasting.
When we are young we feel invincible. We cannot be destroyed and we cannot be broken. We tend to be careless with our health and think that old is a number that is somewhere out there and does not have our name attached to it.
Our youth is spent dreaming and the middle years filled with excitement. The maturing years seem to contain the entire past but with a new understanding of our fallibility. We are not so sure anymore – not about the future and especially not about our place in the aftermath of life.
There is pain and death and fear, as we get older. Life seems to have gotten away from us. When we were young we wanted to be older and as we get older we want to be young. When we laughed as youngsters it was intense and the older we get that laughter seems to be remote. We concentrate on ailments real or imagined. We reminisce more than enjoying the moment. We talk about doctors and hospitals as though they were shopping mall adventures. We move slowly and slowly move to places we remember our parents or grandparents being involved in.
What has happened to us? Once we were vital and energetic and daring. Now we are afraid to travel life’s road because we don’t know about our return. Once we loved with a passion that made us tingle and now we talk about it because it comes in a prescription. Once we were out in the sunshine and now we seem to stay in the shade. Days seem to blend with other days and the nights never end.
It is time to wake up from this nightmare and live! It is time to understand that though we are in our maturing stage we are vital and vibrant and have so much to offer. We can be essential to our families, our friends, and ourselves. We can accept aging with grace and dignity. We can think about yesterday because it will make tomorrow more meaningful.
Now we have grown children who also have grown children. The foundation we nurtured is not the end but rather a continuation of a life that has experiences yet to be discovered. We travel the globe, not in search of the fountain of youth, but rather to ensure that we remain a necessary part of creation. We visit old friends to allow us the opportunity to renew ourselves because of the occurrences that gave us joy. We journey great distances to be with family; family that once lived so close we thought the world centered on that time and place.
Groucho Marx once remarked that at a certain time in our life we go to bed hoping that we will feel better in the morning and as we age we go to bed hoping that we will have a morning. Is that what aging means? He may have been joking but when you think about it, there is truth in his humor. Our thoughts seem to gravitate to the end rather than the continuation of the journey. We laugh at what we forgot because we fear that it is a sign of the nearness of our final chapter.
It is our responsibility to continue dreaming. That is the part of the privilege of being older. When we were younger we had visions and now those visions are our todays. But we still dream because life is filled with dreams of what is. Dreams are our present as visions helped determine our future.
The season of remembering, of dreaming, of life, is upon us. Bad things do happen to us. Bad things happen to everyone. But good things, the things that make for a useful and interesting life, are a greater part of who we are. It is OK to reminisce, to think about yesterday as long as it brings us a better understanding of today and even tomorrow.
Rosh Hashanah which is almost here is about the past. Yom Kippur is about the future. The events that brought us to these celebrations are called life. And these holidays should help us believe in the power of aging and their rewards.
The coming holiday season can bring us a closeness that only maturity allows us to appreciate. Our family and friends are part of the process. Reliance on God will steer us through the bad times and help us rejoice in the good. It all boils down to one word: Life! Life is for living and hopefully we will be able to weather the storms so that the rainbow put there to give us hope will do just that.
Bad things happen to us. We tend to regard the misery that surrounds us as foreign and far removed. That is our defense mechanism. The truth, however, is that things that cause pain are real and lasting.
When we are young we feel invincible. We cannot be destroyed and we cannot be broken. We tend to be careless with our health and think that old is a number that is somewhere out there and does not have our name attached to it.
Our youth is spent dreaming and the middle years filled with excitement. The maturing years seem to contain the entire past but with a new understanding of our fallibility. We are not so sure anymore – not about the future and especially not about our place in the aftermath of life.
There is pain and death and fear, as we get older. Life seems to have gotten away from us. When we were young we wanted to be older and as we get older we want to be young. When we laughed as youngsters it was intense and the older we get that laughter seems to be remote. We concentrate on ailments real or imagined. We reminisce more than enjoying the moment. We talk about doctors and hospitals as though they were shopping mall adventures. We move slowly and slowly move to places we remember our parents or grandparents being involved in.
What has happened to us? Once we were vital and energetic and daring. Now we are afraid to travel life’s road because we don’t know about our return. Once we loved with a passion that made us tingle and now we talk about it because it comes in a prescription. Once we were out in the sunshine and now we seem to stay in the shade. Days seem to blend with other days and the nights never end.
It is time to wake up from this nightmare and live! It is time to understand that though we are in our maturing stage we are vital and vibrant and have so much to offer. We can be essential to our families, our friends, and ourselves. We can accept aging with grace and dignity. We can think about yesterday because it will make tomorrow more meaningful.
Now we have grown children who also have grown children. The foundation we nurtured is not the end but rather a continuation of a life that has experiences yet to be discovered. We travel the globe, not in search of the fountain of youth, but rather to ensure that we remain a necessary part of creation. We visit old friends to allow us the opportunity to renew ourselves because of the occurrences that gave us joy. We journey great distances to be with family; family that once lived so close we thought the world centered on that time and place.
Groucho Marx once remarked that at a certain time in our life we go to bed hoping that we will feel better in the morning and as we age we go to bed hoping that we will have a morning. Is that what aging means? He may have been joking but when you think about it, there is truth in his humor. Our thoughts seem to gravitate to the end rather than the continuation of the journey. We laugh at what we forgot because we fear that it is a sign of the nearness of our final chapter.
It is our responsibility to continue dreaming. That is the part of the privilege of being older. When we were younger we had visions and now those visions are our todays. But we still dream because life is filled with dreams of what is. Dreams are our present as visions helped determine our future.
The season of remembering, of dreaming, of life, is upon us. Bad things do happen to us. Bad things happen to everyone. But good things, the things that make for a useful and interesting life, are a greater part of who we are. It is OK to reminisce, to think about yesterday as long as it brings us a better understanding of today and even tomorrow.
Rosh Hashanah which is almost here is about the past. Yom Kippur is about the future. The events that brought us to these celebrations are called life. And these holidays should help us believe in the power of aging and their rewards.
The coming holiday season can bring us a closeness that only maturity allows us to appreciate. Our family and friends are part of the process. Reliance on God will steer us through the bad times and help us rejoice in the good. It all boils down to one word: Life! Life is for living and hopefully we will be able to weather the storms so that the rainbow put there to give us hope will do just that.
Monday, June 23, 2008
A Small Boat In An Endless Sea
Rabbi Irwin Wiener, D.D.
On the desk in the Oval Office of the White House, during the presidency of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, was a bronze plaque that read: “O’ GOD thy sea is so great and my boat so small.” Perhaps it reminded him of the awesome responsibility that was his as president of the United States. Possibly it even had a humbling effect.
To me, it signifies the importance we should place on accomplishing impossible tasks such as repairing the tear in the human experience. It also helps me understand how we sometimes have an inflated sense of worth and ego.
I think of this (inflated sense of worth) when I read the Book of Job. It is a compelling story because it helps us understand that we do not know the ways of God, although there are some who will tell you that they have the answers. There are times when we are at a loss to understand the journey of life. We should remember that a master plan exists which includes all that you see and all that you cannot see. It contains the goodness to be found in each of us as well as the dark side that has a tendency to overcome us.
Each of us is part of an experiment that began when life was breathed into our nostrils and a soul was placed in our keeping. Each of us is responsible, in part, for the whole universe: responsible for hunger and disease and desolation; responsible for hatred and wars and destruction. And we are especially responsible for our conduct with each other because it ultimately leads to all these sufferings.
We look around and think how great the sea and how small our boat. Can we ever row to happiness? Will we ever realize the dreams of the generations: to love one another, which is the same as loving God; to ensure justice for all; to be merciful in our dealings with one another; to understand that caring for each other is true benevolence.
Sometimes we look at this endless sea and feel as though we may sink into the abyss, the emptiness and the vastness of it all. And like Job we wonder about all the misery and why we are singled out, so it seems, to witness first hand the pain and the hurt. We should learn from the lesson of Job that there is evil as well as good. One thrives on the other – one cannot exist without the other. We see that good people ache while bad people prosper. The ultimate test is whether we can accept that there is a plan and there is the planner.
We think that we can do nothing about our destiny – it is written somewhere and therefore an accepted fact. But then we realize that we are given the greatest gift of all – the gift of choice. We have within our grasp the ability to choose right from wrong as society envisions it, and it is apparent that some if not most of the turmoil in our lives comes from our actions or inactions-not because there is some devil playing havoc with our lives or that God intends to test us to determine our allegiance or fealty.
Many of us have lived several lives. We have witnessed death and rebirth. Our faith has been challenged with great disappointments. We have laughed too few times and cried too many. We try to make sense of family. We try to understand our place in the scheme of things. The boat may be small in an endless sea, but it should encourage us to keep rowing until we can all see land.
We should take every opportunity to enter into a new chapter in whatever time is left for us. Now is the time to continue our learning circle because like the circle, learning is an endless process. Now is the time to live life as we would have wanted to if we had the opportunity to do it over again. Now is the time to love more intensely those we hold dear.
If we have touched someone we should feel richer for it. If we have helped someone we should feel an approving nod from those who preceded us. If, when the time arrives, we will be missed then we surely have made an impact and have learned well from our teachers and family and friends.
Our boat may seem small and the sea endless, not because we are rudderless but because there is so much more to see, people yet to meet, events to experience, and choices to make. We can sit and expect our lives to be fulfilled because of some wish for a God that directs our every move or we can stand and take control and choose to live life as it was intended.
Job accepts this choice because he realizes that he is mortal and does not understand the ways of the Divine – that is the failing of Job – that is the lesson we receive. We can’t fathom the concept of God except in human terms because we are human – but we search. We cannot expect God to live our lives for us.
At this time in our lives we need to contemplate the eternal question: Why there is so much suffering in the world? Why is there war and destruction? Why is there starvation and homelessness? Why is there religious hatred? Why doesn’t God send someone to make sense of it all? And the answer is quite simple – God did send someone – God sent us!
On the desk in the Oval Office of the White House, during the presidency of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, was a bronze plaque that read: “O’ GOD thy sea is so great and my boat so small.” Perhaps it reminded him of the awesome responsibility that was his as president of the United States. Possibly it even had a humbling effect.
To me, it signifies the importance we should place on accomplishing impossible tasks such as repairing the tear in the human experience. It also helps me understand how we sometimes have an inflated sense of worth and ego.
I think of this (inflated sense of worth) when I read the Book of Job. It is a compelling story because it helps us understand that we do not know the ways of God, although there are some who will tell you that they have the answers. There are times when we are at a loss to understand the journey of life. We should remember that a master plan exists which includes all that you see and all that you cannot see. It contains the goodness to be found in each of us as well as the dark side that has a tendency to overcome us.
Each of us is part of an experiment that began when life was breathed into our nostrils and a soul was placed in our keeping. Each of us is responsible, in part, for the whole universe: responsible for hunger and disease and desolation; responsible for hatred and wars and destruction. And we are especially responsible for our conduct with each other because it ultimately leads to all these sufferings.
We look around and think how great the sea and how small our boat. Can we ever row to happiness? Will we ever realize the dreams of the generations: to love one another, which is the same as loving God; to ensure justice for all; to be merciful in our dealings with one another; to understand that caring for each other is true benevolence.
Sometimes we look at this endless sea and feel as though we may sink into the abyss, the emptiness and the vastness of it all. And like Job we wonder about all the misery and why we are singled out, so it seems, to witness first hand the pain and the hurt. We should learn from the lesson of Job that there is evil as well as good. One thrives on the other – one cannot exist without the other. We see that good people ache while bad people prosper. The ultimate test is whether we can accept that there is a plan and there is the planner.
We think that we can do nothing about our destiny – it is written somewhere and therefore an accepted fact. But then we realize that we are given the greatest gift of all – the gift of choice. We have within our grasp the ability to choose right from wrong as society envisions it, and it is apparent that some if not most of the turmoil in our lives comes from our actions or inactions-not because there is some devil playing havoc with our lives or that God intends to test us to determine our allegiance or fealty.
Many of us have lived several lives. We have witnessed death and rebirth. Our faith has been challenged with great disappointments. We have laughed too few times and cried too many. We try to make sense of family. We try to understand our place in the scheme of things. The boat may be small in an endless sea, but it should encourage us to keep rowing until we can all see land.
We should take every opportunity to enter into a new chapter in whatever time is left for us. Now is the time to continue our learning circle because like the circle, learning is an endless process. Now is the time to live life as we would have wanted to if we had the opportunity to do it over again. Now is the time to love more intensely those we hold dear.
If we have touched someone we should feel richer for it. If we have helped someone we should feel an approving nod from those who preceded us. If, when the time arrives, we will be missed then we surely have made an impact and have learned well from our teachers and family and friends.
Our boat may seem small and the sea endless, not because we are rudderless but because there is so much more to see, people yet to meet, events to experience, and choices to make. We can sit and expect our lives to be fulfilled because of some wish for a God that directs our every move or we can stand and take control and choose to live life as it was intended.
Job accepts this choice because he realizes that he is mortal and does not understand the ways of the Divine – that is the failing of Job – that is the lesson we receive. We can’t fathom the concept of God except in human terms because we are human – but we search. We cannot expect God to live our lives for us.
At this time in our lives we need to contemplate the eternal question: Why there is so much suffering in the world? Why is there war and destruction? Why is there starvation and homelessness? Why is there religious hatred? Why doesn’t God send someone to make sense of it all? And the answer is quite simple – God did send someone – God sent us!
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Confessions of a non-conformist Jew
Rabbi Irwin Wiener, D.D.
I will begin by stating that I am a reform rabbi. In fact, I am, what is classified, as a classical reform rabbi. So now that the air has been cleared, so to speak, I will proceed to discuss the pros and cons of interfaith weddings and their impact on the Jewish people in general and Judaism in particular.
To properly understand where I am coming from –allow me to begin by stating that I am a mesifta graduate having gone to both yeshiva and mesifta. My career has been totally immersed in Jewish living and identity. I have directed religious schools, been involved deeply in youth activities such as USY (United Synagogue Youth) and NCSY( National Council of Synagogue Youth). And, I have been a director of synagogues as well as director of a federation agency and presently a rabbi of a reform congregation.
During the course of my career I have gone from Orthodox to Conservative to Reform, where I now reside. These changes did not come easily or overnight. When I left Orthodoxy it was because I felt that peripheral vision was needed to ensure the survival of the Jewish people. Fundamentalism in any form does not include this vision. This is not meant to denigrate Orthodoxy – after all, “some of my best friends …....” I could not reconcile continuity with exclusiveness. And let me state unequivocally that my intention is not to convince anyone of the rightness or wrongness of their belief or following.
Conservative Judaism seemed to be the answer. The concept of synagogue centers was very appealing giving our youth the opportunity to not only be involved in religious experiences, but also having their social and sports activities incorporated in their synagogue life. USY seemed to be the perfect vehicle to enhance Jewish fervor and secular exposure. Somehow the concept was lost – the concept of bridging the gap between Orthodoxy and Reform. Somehow the infighting and lack of leadership diluted the true essence of Conservative Judaism.
Now we evolve to Reform Judaism. The very name conjures up distortions because the intent was not to eradicate Judaism but rather to give it meaning in today’s world and the United States of America. Although founded in Germany, its real roots stem from Spinoza who taught that experimentation and modernization are not sins of omission but rather methods by which growth can be assured. It was as radical an idea in his day as it is today to many who proclaim that Reform Judaism will destroy the very fabric of Jewish life.
My involvement with Reform Judaism stemmed from the idea of inclusiveness. Of what value is Judaism if it does not seem relevant or necessary in everyday life, if we separate ourselves? Where is the future of the Jewish people if we live forever in the past without trying to understand the present and the future? This is not a foreign concept. The rabbis of the Talmud were forever experimenting with “traditional” Judaism because they understood, only too well, that the past was a path to the future not an end a
Which brings me to the subject of interfaith weddings and its impact on Jewish life: Does participating in interfaith weddings enhance the opportunity for continuity?
If people reach out their hands and they are not accepted what have we done? We have alienated them and perhaps will never see them again. If mothers and fathers agonize over identification or continuity, and we shun them, what have we done? We will have lost not only those wishing to maintain some connection but also rejected their families.
What about continuing Jewish involvement? If there was a chance that Judaism would be the faith of the family, and we have not accepted a token observance what have we done? We will have convinced that family that Judaism is not inclusive but rather exclusive to the point that “purity” is the litmus test for acceptance.
Surveys have been taken and results of those surveys have been published which suggest that there is a positive reaction to Jewish involvement of interfaith couples. Rabbi Arnold Dashefsky found that interfaith couples who had a rabbi as the sole officiant at their wedding were nearly 40 percent more likely to raise their children Jewish than couples who did not have Jewish clergy or had co-officiants. Rabbi Albert Axelrad, in 1985, a longtime director of Brandeis University Hillel wrote “Meditations of a Maverick Rabbi.” The most astounding part of the book is his revelation that he officiates at interfaith weddings, as he calls for a serious sociological analysis of the impact of rabbinic officiation at interfaith weddings.
Many rabbis, myself included, deal more with the compassion needed for uniting a couple who want a rabbi to preside over their wedding. I feel that, if they were not concerned about their Jewishness, they could just as easily have gone to a justice of the peace or in some instances to non -Jewish clergy. Is that the path for continuity?
I have discovered, over the course of time, requests for additional study and eventual conversion to Judaism. My extended hand, I believe, played a significant part in those decisions. Even those who did not want to convert wanted to learn more about our faith so that they could provide a Jewish environment for their family. Could this have been accomplished by rejecting them and turning them away? To me it is a sure sign that their journey of life will include a Jewish component and I am thankful to have been instrumental in maintaining the link in the chain of the future of our people
I could recite, chapter and verse, the experiences, but that would not convince many of our faith who feel that their understanding of interfaith weddings means dilution not continuation. And I certainly will not try to convince them otherwise. What I am trying to do as a rabbi in Israel is to ensure that the next generation will be there to proclaim their Jewish identification and that Am Yisrael Hai is not just a slogan but a reality.
I will begin by stating that I am a reform rabbi. In fact, I am, what is classified, as a classical reform rabbi. So now that the air has been cleared, so to speak, I will proceed to discuss the pros and cons of interfaith weddings and their impact on the Jewish people in general and Judaism in particular.
To properly understand where I am coming from –allow me to begin by stating that I am a mesifta graduate having gone to both yeshiva and mesifta. My career has been totally immersed in Jewish living and identity. I have directed religious schools, been involved deeply in youth activities such as USY (United Synagogue Youth) and NCSY( National Council of Synagogue Youth). And, I have been a director of synagogues as well as director of a federation agency and presently a rabbi of a reform congregation.
During the course of my career I have gone from Orthodox to Conservative to Reform, where I now reside. These changes did not come easily or overnight. When I left Orthodoxy it was because I felt that peripheral vision was needed to ensure the survival of the Jewish people. Fundamentalism in any form does not include this vision. This is not meant to denigrate Orthodoxy – after all, “some of my best friends …....” I could not reconcile continuity with exclusiveness. And let me state unequivocally that my intention is not to convince anyone of the rightness or wrongness of their belief or following.
Conservative Judaism seemed to be the answer. The concept of synagogue centers was very appealing giving our youth the opportunity to not only be involved in religious experiences, but also having their social and sports activities incorporated in their synagogue life. USY seemed to be the perfect vehicle to enhance Jewish fervor and secular exposure. Somehow the concept was lost – the concept of bridging the gap between Orthodoxy and Reform. Somehow the infighting and lack of leadership diluted the true essence of Conservative Judaism.
Now we evolve to Reform Judaism. The very name conjures up distortions because the intent was not to eradicate Judaism but rather to give it meaning in today’s world and the United States of America. Although founded in Germany, its real roots stem from Spinoza who taught that experimentation and modernization are not sins of omission but rather methods by which growth can be assured. It was as radical an idea in his day as it is today to many who proclaim that Reform Judaism will destroy the very fabric of Jewish life.
My involvement with Reform Judaism stemmed from the idea of inclusiveness. Of what value is Judaism if it does not seem relevant or necessary in everyday life, if we separate ourselves? Where is the future of the Jewish people if we live forever in the past without trying to understand the present and the future? This is not a foreign concept. The rabbis of the Talmud were forever experimenting with “traditional” Judaism because they understood, only too well, that the past was a path to the future not an end a
Which brings me to the subject of interfaith weddings and its impact on Jewish life: Does participating in interfaith weddings enhance the opportunity for continuity?
If people reach out their hands and they are not accepted what have we done? We have alienated them and perhaps will never see them again. If mothers and fathers agonize over identification or continuity, and we shun them, what have we done? We will have lost not only those wishing to maintain some connection but also rejected their families.
What about continuing Jewish involvement? If there was a chance that Judaism would be the faith of the family, and we have not accepted a token observance what have we done? We will have convinced that family that Judaism is not inclusive but rather exclusive to the point that “purity” is the litmus test for acceptance.
Surveys have been taken and results of those surveys have been published which suggest that there is a positive reaction to Jewish involvement of interfaith couples. Rabbi Arnold Dashefsky found that interfaith couples who had a rabbi as the sole officiant at their wedding were nearly 40 percent more likely to raise their children Jewish than couples who did not have Jewish clergy or had co-officiants. Rabbi Albert Axelrad, in 1985, a longtime director of Brandeis University Hillel wrote “Meditations of a Maverick Rabbi.” The most astounding part of the book is his revelation that he officiates at interfaith weddings, as he calls for a serious sociological analysis of the impact of rabbinic officiation at interfaith weddings.
Many rabbis, myself included, deal more with the compassion needed for uniting a couple who want a rabbi to preside over their wedding. I feel that, if they were not concerned about their Jewishness, they could just as easily have gone to a justice of the peace or in some instances to non -Jewish clergy. Is that the path for continuity?
I have discovered, over the course of time, requests for additional study and eventual conversion to Judaism. My extended hand, I believe, played a significant part in those decisions. Even those who did not want to convert wanted to learn more about our faith so that they could provide a Jewish environment for their family. Could this have been accomplished by rejecting them and turning them away? To me it is a sure sign that their journey of life will include a Jewish component and I am thankful to have been instrumental in maintaining the link in the chain of the future of our people
I could recite, chapter and verse, the experiences, but that would not convince many of our faith who feel that their understanding of interfaith weddings means dilution not continuation. And I certainly will not try to convince them otherwise. What I am trying to do as a rabbi in Israel is to ensure that the next generation will be there to proclaim their Jewish identification and that Am Yisrael Hai is not just a slogan but a reality.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Age and experience vs. youth and idealism
Rabbi Irwin Wiener, D.D.
Politics has no place in religion. Yet we learn from the Prophets that leadership depends on morality and where do we learn about such things but from Scripture. So while politics and religion don’t mix and our founding fathers were rightly concerned about this blending of fundamentalism and legislation, we are duty bound to explore how they fit rather than how they should remain separate.
We are engaged in a struggle to fill the vacuum that seems to have permeated our national conscience. There are those on the right who tell us that strict adherence and religious fervor will be our salvation. There are those on the left who emphasis that freedom is uncompromising and therefore sacrosanct – nothing but true enfranchisement will suffice for free people to fulfill their inherent destiny.
Both see no grey only black and white, right and wrong, and nothing short of their goals will achieve the true essence of American democracy.
Presently we are involved in a national election for the presidency of the United States, indisputably the most grueling and demanding job ever created by man. We are witnessing a test between age and experience and youth and idealism. Never in our history has this been so defined by the selection of the two candidates choosing to attain this high office.
It has been a grueling primary season. Recriminations, sexism, racism, they all reared their ugly heads and for sure will be ever more present in the contest yet to be. And this is where religion and politics could and should share a common ground:
To begin we only have to refer to the Prophet Jeremiah, 29:7 that you should seek the welfare of the land in which you find yourself, and pray to God on this land’s behalf, for in its welfare shall you find your welfare. While Jeremiah was originally talking to the exiles of Israel, his words ring true today for all peoples in all lands whether native or immigrant.
How do we accomplish this and still remain true to our feelings and philosophies so that we don’t feel as though we have betrayed either? We must understand that there are certain realities, certain things that cannot be changed because to do so would require a complete overhaul of a system that has survived revolution and civil war and are part of the weave called America. Our political system has worked and will work for howeverlong we allow it to flourish. We cannot make promises that we know are impossible to fulfill, we cannot offer changes that will never materialize for whatever reason and we must be honest in describing our wants and needs and how they can be achieved as a nation, not a democrat or republican.
One of the greatest introductions into freedom was the advent of voting; the ability to put into action the efforts of our collective decisions. We seem to take this for granted and the numbers of those going to the polls reflects this lack of democratic exercising. We condemn the decisions but take no part in the process. We claim to know what is needed but refuse to speak to the need by participating in the conduct of democracy in action. We are like the travelers who stand on the platform and watch the train go by instead of boarding and reaching that ultimate destination of accomplishment.
We all have ideas, we all have differences, we all tend to be oblivious to the other person’s needs, we yell rather than listen and when we do listen we don’t hear what is being said because we don’t agree. It all sounds negative but it is the beauty of our system.
So we have choices. Again we go to Scripture for the answer. The Talmud teaches us that we must not appoint a leader over the community (the people) before consulting these people. That is what elections are all about, consulting the people as to how and who will govern with the consent of the people. But this can never be realized unless we exercise the right to vote.
This election gives us clear choices: age and experience vs. youth and idealism. Whichever you choose, you can only do so if you vote. That is what the Prophets told us ages ago and it is an obligation, not only to our faith, but to our country. This is one instance where religion and politics do mesh for the common good.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Life is a dialogue between God and us
Rabbi Irwin Wiener, D.D.
So much has been written and said about a character named Korach. However, three things come to mind when I think of his place in the lessons of life: Arrogance, the feeling of self-worth and the notion of superiority.
Arrogance destroys the very fabric of who we are because it makes us fell as though we are the only ones who know truth. It is synonymous with control. Arrogance gives us the ability to denigrate and even be insolent. Arrogance clouds our minds and thinking to the point that we are held captive by it.
Self-worth, while important in our understanding of ourselves, can impede us in reaching out to others so that they can be part of our experiences. Excessive self-worth prevents us from emotions that are necessary for fulfillment because we lock out those feelings that create intimacy.
Feelings of superiority can and do cause us to lose sight of connection and dependence. We cannot live in a vacuum, nor can we isolate ourselves from the ties necessary for completeness. We were not created alone. There were two, and then three, and finally a planet filled with other human beings with needs and wants. Everything was created in pairs because we are no better than the next, but need each other to enable us to reach that ultimate destination of togetherness.
Control is the central theme. It is so difficult to relinquish control and so impossible to live with that we use these methods to reinforce it. All of us, at times, have the urge to be in control, not only of others but also of ourselves. How awesome to think that there is nothing greater or more knowing than ourselves.
Life is, at best, a fight: A fight to survive, a fight to be remembered and a fight to complete the journey that began with birth and continues to death and beyond. Life is a dialogue between God and us. Through this dialogue we bring God into our lives, which endow us with the ability to be humble because there is a greater force than we.
Moses was put in control of a people who knew nothing but disaster, hurt and pain. His task was to take this dignity-ravaged multitude and give them purpose. The challenge presented by the arrogance, feelings of superiority and exaggeration of self-worth as displayed by a man called Korach enabled Moses to garner the courage to exert his authority so that his mission could be completed. In the end, Moses won out, but the defeat of Korach left us with a lesson that resonates to this day: Control breeds contempt, but is necessary for civility and for society to function.
Korach lost because he dared to challenge without respect for holiness. We lose this regard for sanctification when we become arrogant and self-serving and think ourselves superior. The Ramban emphasizes that Korach left the mainstream of Jewish life and excluded himself from participating in the great experience of becoming a nation of law and compassion. His attempt at dividing the people is an obvious denial of the miracle of redemption, an assertion that man is in control without regard to the moral teachings of Heaven.
Hillel reminds us that seeking fame can destroy us if we allow it to lose our awareness of God. Arrogance, self-worth and superiority prevent us from reaching our ultimate destiny – oneness with God.
So much has been written and said about a character named Korach. However, three things come to mind when I think of his place in the lessons of life: Arrogance, the feeling of self-worth and the notion of superiority.
Arrogance destroys the very fabric of who we are because it makes us fell as though we are the only ones who know truth. It is synonymous with control. Arrogance gives us the ability to denigrate and even be insolent. Arrogance clouds our minds and thinking to the point that we are held captive by it.
Self-worth, while important in our understanding of ourselves, can impede us in reaching out to others so that they can be part of our experiences. Excessive self-worth prevents us from emotions that are necessary for fulfillment because we lock out those feelings that create intimacy.
Feelings of superiority can and do cause us to lose sight of connection and dependence. We cannot live in a vacuum, nor can we isolate ourselves from the ties necessary for completeness. We were not created alone. There were two, and then three, and finally a planet filled with other human beings with needs and wants. Everything was created in pairs because we are no better than the next, but need each other to enable us to reach that ultimate destination of togetherness.
Control is the central theme. It is so difficult to relinquish control and so impossible to live with that we use these methods to reinforce it. All of us, at times, have the urge to be in control, not only of others but also of ourselves. How awesome to think that there is nothing greater or more knowing than ourselves.
Life is, at best, a fight: A fight to survive, a fight to be remembered and a fight to complete the journey that began with birth and continues to death and beyond. Life is a dialogue between God and us. Through this dialogue we bring God into our lives, which endow us with the ability to be humble because there is a greater force than we.
Moses was put in control of a people who knew nothing but disaster, hurt and pain. His task was to take this dignity-ravaged multitude and give them purpose. The challenge presented by the arrogance, feelings of superiority and exaggeration of self-worth as displayed by a man called Korach enabled Moses to garner the courage to exert his authority so that his mission could be completed. In the end, Moses won out, but the defeat of Korach left us with a lesson that resonates to this day: Control breeds contempt, but is necessary for civility and for society to function.
Korach lost because he dared to challenge without respect for holiness. We lose this regard for sanctification when we become arrogant and self-serving and think ourselves superior. The Ramban emphasizes that Korach left the mainstream of Jewish life and excluded himself from participating in the great experience of becoming a nation of law and compassion. His attempt at dividing the people is an obvious denial of the miracle of redemption, an assertion that man is in control without regard to the moral teachings of Heaven.
Hillel reminds us that seeking fame can destroy us if we allow it to lose our awareness of God. Arrogance, self-worth and superiority prevent us from reaching our ultimate destiny – oneness with God.
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