Sermons & Stories

L’shana Tova Um’tukah – Praying for a good and sweet new year!

In the Torah this morning, we read about one of the most significant moments in the history of the Jewish People – Isaac’s birth. Without Isaac, we’re over before we even began and we marvel at the notion that Sarah gave birth at the age of 90! The idea is that Isaac’s birth was miraculous and a fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham. A promise that has remained steadfast through the lives we’ve led, the ideas and values we’ve brought forth, the memories and histories we’ve experienced – the promise that the legacy of Abraham, the legacy of the Jewish People will endure.

And we have endured. Our People have seen destruction and exile and horror after horror. We’ve also seen golden ages and brilliance and blessing upon blessing. Over the past couple years, we’ve experienced more moments of concern and tragedy than we’ve seen in a while, including the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in America. Last night, I talked about the need for us to take care of ourselves as individuals. This morning, the focus is to take care of ourselves as a Jewish People.

We need to take care of our People. We’ve seen an increase in Antisemitism in America and an increase in Antisemitism worldwide. According to the Anti-Defamation League, there was actually a decrease in Antisemitic incidents from 2017 to 2018. But “the number of incidents last year remained at near-historic levels – 48 percent higher than the total for 2016 and 99 percent higher than in 2015.” https://www.adl.org/news/press-releases/anti-semitic-incidents-remained-at-near-historic-levels-in-2018-assaults There are too many stories of vandalism, harassment, and assaults against Jews and Jewish institutions.

The Secure Community Network was organized by Jewish institutions (Conference of Presidents of Major National Jewish Organizations, United Jewish Communities, American Jewish Committee) to share information and training to help Jewish communities respond to the world as it exists (click here to subscribe: https://securecommunitynetwork.org/signup-requests). They send out daily incident updates. Here’s a selection from September 23^rd:

• In Westchester, New York, a Man was Convicted of Sending Anti-Semitic Emails To a Local Official and a Family
• Police report that 7 Teens are wanted for Possible Bias Attack Of Jewish Man In Williamsburg, New York
• Rhode Island Islamic School and 4 Synagogues receive Security Grants Totaling $150,000
• Anti-Semitic Graffiti Found at Racine Synagogue, in Wisconsin

Each story comes with a summary and then a link to the news article. It’s not uncommon to see some kind of incident most days. There’s also plenty of updates that include people getting caught or synagogues and communities improving their security efforts, just as we have over the past couple years, thanks to the leadership of Mike Finfer, our Vice President and House & Security Chair.

While more than half of the ADL’s reported Antisemitic incidents took place in just four states, our CBI community has not been unaffected. This past May we held a forum on Antisemitism and heard enough stories of online ugliness and incidents at school and in the community to indicate real concern. We always knew that there were people out there who didn’t like us, but the frequency is something that our People haven’t experienced in decades.

It’s unsettling. Because of this, I’ve heard from the ADL and experts in the field, such as Kenneth Stern, director of the Bard Center for the Study of Hate. They have confidence that we are nowhere close to Nazi Germany. They talk about how Antisemitism is more complex and nuanced than in the past. They also acknowledge that any shift that makes Antisemitism more common is disturbing. So, we have to take care of ourselves – we have to take care of our People.

To do that, we have to be able to reassure each other. Everyone doesn’t hate us. In fact, the Pew Research Center reported just a couple months ago that Americans have warmer feelings towards us Jews than any other religious group https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/08/01/u-s-jews-know-a-lot-about-religion-but-other-americans-know-little-about-judaism/. In addition to surveys that reflect positive general sentiment, it’s reassuring to know that locally, we have some incredible allies.

Two days after the Tree of Life Shooting over 400 people came to CBI for a standing room only service of memorial, healing, and resilience. Over thirty religious and community leaders stood on this bimah and affirmed, “We Stand Together.” We received letters and flowers and food baskets – an outpouring of love and support. And then a week later another 400 plus came together for the Peace Together Walk, which focused on building relationships with our neighbors.

And in order to care for ourselves, building relationships with others is exactly what we’re supposed to be doing. Cheryl Drazin of the ADL stressed the idea back in May. Her message: Be proactive with the schools, with civic leaders, and with other religious institutions. Engage them as partners and know that we can’t just stand up for our People – we have to stand up for all people.

The work of Howard Rosenthal and Peace Together remains one way to do this. The work of Adena Cytron-Walker and the dialogue opportunities that the Multicultural Alliance provides is another. And there’s still opportunity for growth. In the middle of the year, I heard about an Antisemitic incident at one of the schools. I called up the principle and I asked him if they had handled the incident to the best of their ability. He responded that he felt that they had. He then admitted that in his view, the best of their ability wasn’t nearly good enough.

That opened up conversations about the ability of teachers to address incidents of hate – not just against Jews, but against any group of people in the classroom. It allowed me to connect the school with the ADL and begin conversations about what teacher training could look like. His advice to me was that if we wanted to see real, systemic change, it couldn’t be about just one incident. We had to make sure the administration knew that this was an ongoing priority - to create a school community where each and every student feels supported, safe, and can live up to their potential. To work towards this goal, I will need your assistance. Look for opportunities to help in the near future.

While we can’t stand up only for our People, we do have to stand up for ourselves. And when it feels like the Jewish community has been used as a political pinball lately, we need to be united. That means progressives need to stand up to left wing Antisemitism and conservatives need to stand up to right wing Antisemitism. What does that mean?

Progressives, it’s great that the Democratic led House condemned BDS 398-17 this summer https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/23/us/politics/house-israel-boycott-bds.html. At the same time, the Antisemitism that has been an outgrowth of the anti-Israel Boycott, Divest, Sanction Movement isn’t going away. It means learning more about the beauty, challenge, and complexity of Israeli society. One example that may surprise you… did you know that Tel Aviv is considered by many to be the gayest city in the world? Yes. Tel Aviv, with a quarter million people at Tel Aviv Pride, a worldwide leader in transgender medicine, expansive LGBTQ social services and much more – Tel Aviv has earned that name https://www.forbes.com/sites/brandonschultz/2019/06/13/6-ways-tel-aviv-supports-the-lgbtq-community-during-its-massive-pride-celebration-and-throughout-the-year/#a30159f28432. And yet there are LGBTQ groups that won’t partner with Jewish groups because of Israel. It’s absurd. On the left, we need to learn more so we can stand up for our People and set the record straight!

Now Conservatives – it’s more straightforward. It is great that our Senator, Ted Cruz, has started condemning white supremacy https://www.texastribune.org/2019/08/04/after-el-paso-shooting-some-texas-republican-leaders-decry-white-terro/, but it’s not enough. Too many conservative leaders are not yet willing to simply condemn white supremacy and right-wing Antisemitism. On the right, we have to change that. 

Jewish community has always disagreed about politics – that’s because we disagree about everything. But when it comes to Antisemitism and our People, we have to be united.

Standing up for ourselves, along with participating with Peace Together or the Multicultural Alliance on the community level and working to advocate for our children and all children through the schools, offer concrete avenues to help take care of our People in the New Year. Holocaust historian, author, and professor Deborah Lipstadt offers a very different way to help care for our People.

“[Dr.] Lipstadt said people often focus on anti-Semitism to the ‘exclusion of the positive, with focus on the ‘oy’ as opposed to the joy, and by doing that, we turn Jew into object [meaning] what is done to Jews as opposed to what Jews do. We have such a great heritage and to let the hatred become the defining factor would be really to give in to the anti-Semites.’”

https://www.jns.org/anti-semitism-envoy-reveals-new-us-interagency-process-to-tackle-growing-jew-hatred/

Dr. Lipstadt is saying – Judaism is supposed to bring meaning and purpose to our lives, so don’t get so focused on irrational hatred against us that we forget to do Judaism, study Judaism, and celebrate Judaism. Care for our People by bringing the joy – here at CBI, within our Federation, or with other Jewish groups. Be present, be knowledgeable, be a good Jewish role model.

The legacy of Abraham is that the Jewish People will endure. And when we look through our history, it’s a testament to our resilience that we have endured. I was inspired recently by stories that have been told about our People blowing shofar on Rosh Hashanah in the midst of Nazi death camps. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/21/arts/auschwitz-shofar.html?searchResultPosition=2. Think about that… In the midst of the most impossible, oppressive situation, they risked everything to hear the cry of the shofar. And they didn’t risk everything because Judaism was worth dying for. They blew the shofar because Judaism is worth living for.

L’shana Tova Tikateivu – May we be inscribed for a good year filled with caring for our People in health and safety and partnerships and joy!