Jewish Community

Rabbi Melanie Aron

Yom Kippur 5765
September 25, 2004

In 1905 the American Jewish community celebrated its 250th anniversary. The date chosen for the commemoration, April 26th , was the date on which Peter Stuyvesant received orders from the Dutch West India Trading Company that he would not be allowed to expel, as he had proposed, the 23 Jewish refugees who had arrived in New Amsterdam the previous September. That 1905 celebration culminated in a program at Carnegie Hall with a speech by past President Grover Cleveland and a letter from President Teddy Roosevelt. Interestingly, the community decided that the money that had been raised to create a monument for this occasion could be better spent helping Russian Jews who had suffered greatly from the recent pogroms in Kishenev and elsewhere.

The celebration of the 300th anniversary was a grand affair. Planning began several years in advance and involved complex negotiations to bring the various elements of the Jewish community, Zionists and anti-Zionists, Germans and Russians, together. Events were held over the year 1954-55 beginning with a 300th anniversary service at Shearith Israel, the country’s first congregation, that was broadcast on ABC television and ending with a dinner attended by President Eisenhower. The celebration’s theme was “Man’s Opportunities and Responsibilities Under Freedom” and stressed America’s democratic ideals and Jewish contributions to this country. The goal was positive Jewish visibility and, in the context of the Cold War and the recent executions of the Rosenberg’s, the focus was on American Jewish loyalty to this country.

This year’s celebration of 350 years of American Jewish Life also includes mass media (though this time it’s the world wide web to a large extent) and involves bringing together the wide spectrum of American Jewish organizations. The stress is not only on the impact that Jews have had on America, but also on the impact of America on Judaism. The actual anniversary of the arrival of the Jews from Recife is somewhat disputed -- Jonathan Sarna cites September 7th while the New York Times accepted the date of September 12th-- but the celebration will go on throughout the fall.

One of the themes stressed this year is that this is not the anniversary of the arrival of an individual Jew to this country. That happened much earlier than 1654. Some say that Columbus’s crew included Converso’s who you could perhaps count as Jews, and everyone agrees that Joachim Gaunge of Prague, a navigator who arrived in 1585 with Sir Walter Raleigh, was Jewish as was Elias Legado who arrived in 1621, a year after the Pilgrims. What was chosen to celebrate was not the arrival of individual Jews in this country but the establishment of a community.

Our Torah reading this morning, Nitzavim, stresses that the “you” whom God addresses is the collective you, you all, the people who are gathered together. The text reminds us that this is a community that included young and old, rich and poor, the prominent and the downtrodden. In Judaism, it is the community that enters into the covenant with God and the community that aspires to be a kehillah kedoshah, a holy congregation.

What does it mean for us to be a community, here at Shir Hadash? In what ways can we live up to our aspirations to be a kehillah kedoshah, a holy congregation?

From the day we moved into the sanctuary building in 1997 and for several years until the economic boom went bust, we experienced extraordinary growth as a congregation. In 1998 alone we had 67 new member families. That was exciting. It endorsed our confidence in moving forward and building the sanctuary, but it was at a pace that was sometimes overwhelming. Each year our new members were like an elephant swallowed by a snake, a big lump that slowly moved through the system. If you joined in those years, and it was hard to connect, I apologize. More recently our growth has been more moderate, though this year there has been a bit of a rebound, and I think we are doing a better job of getting to know each new member family. This decrease in the rate of increase in our size ( the second derivative) allows for other kinds of growth, and for some thinking about how to be a better community for one another.

At our board retreat this summer, we spent much of the morning thinking about the ways in which we might deepen our community. We considered the modern implications of the Chassidic story about the Gerer Rebbe and his students. Once the Gerer Rebbe decided to question one of his students.

“How is Moishe doing?”

The student didn’t know.

“What!” Shouted the Rebbe,

“You don’t know?

You pray under the same roof,

you study the same texts,

you serve the same God,

you sing the same songs—

and yet you dare to tell me

that you don’t know

about Moishe?

Is he in good health?

Does he need help? advice? comforting?”

This story reminded me of a conversation I had with Linda Allen a while ago. She had spoken with a member who had left the congregation. She learned that their leaving was related to one of their children going through a very rough patch. What was disturbing to me was that at that time of their life, rather than feeling that the congregation was a place where they could find support and help, Shir Hadash felt like another obligation, an additional burden, and in the interest of survival, this member and her family were shucking off anything that complicated their lives as fast as possible.

Given the chance, Shir Hadash can be an incredible life line and safety net. Whatever the challenges life has thrown at you, there is someone else who has walked that path before. There are people who can help with advice or a listening ear, connections, referrals, a ride, babysitting or a hot meal. In the way that extended family members used to help in previous generations, our congregation can be there. When things are tough, the cantor and I can help, the Temple’s staff can help, Jewish tradition can help, but above all else, our members can help each other.

This past Sunday we held our kever avot service at the cemetery. And as one might expect many of those present had suffered a recent loss, or a loss that was particularly painful. I was glad to be there with each of our members, reciting appropriate memorial prayers at the graves of family members. But what was most moving was what those gathered at the cemetery were doing for one another, standing with each other, reaching out a hand, offering a story, a memory, witnessing to each other that they would survive and again find meaning in life.

At a meeting of the Union for Reform Judaism’s board this past June, I saw how the idea of Caring Community has developed in several outstanding congregations around the country. The philosophy of Caring Community is based on a belief in the power of relationships, the power of individuals working with each other, to transform themselves and their communities. “This is the meaning of life,” these communities proclaim, “that we must share each other’s lives, that we cannot leave others alone, either in sorrow or in joy. “ As individuals model what it is like to see each person as of infinite value, that impacts how a synagogue community, over time, sees itself and lives it life. The congregation changes from a place where we must always be on guard to present an exterior of perfection, to a place where we grow together and together ride the rough rollercoaster of life, admitting to the bumps and the curves.

Caring Community is not a program, though it includes programs. At Shir Hadash one important program is our Caring Committee, which provides homemade meals in stressful times, and transportation particularly for some of our older members who are driving less in the evenings. Another program at Shir Hadash is our job seekers group which meets every Monday afternoon at 3pm and provides support and accountability outside the family. We also have a new group we are starting in October at the request of two members for those struggling with infertility problems. Last year we had a wonderful lunch for caregivers and expect to have several opportunities for those caring for aging parents to find support and guidance this year. But caring community isn’t just a program, it is also an attitude- that we are all human and not God, with imperfections and needs being par for the course, and not special failings.

Let me take just a moment to talk about two other communities to which we belong, the national Jewish community and our local San Jose Jewish community.

Nationally, there is a tremendous gap between the recognized Jewish communal leadership, which is primarily east coast, more traditional in religious observance, older, and overwhelmingly male, and the average American Jew who is more likely to live in the south or the west, to be Reform or unaffiliated, and to be accustomed to a more egalitarian leadership style. The gap is more than demographic. It is a gap in outlook as well. At a time when “Making the world a better place” ranked highest among Jews as the activity most Jewishly meaningful, ahead of belief in God, or celebrating Jewish holidays and when 94 percent of Jews, agree with the statement "Social justice work by Jewish organizations makes me proud to be a Jew," the formal establishment leadership is moving in the opposite direction. While the American Jewish community as a whole, overwhelmingly supports a two state solution in the middle east, supports the rulings of the Israeli Supreme Court on the location of the separation barrier, and supports Sharon’s proposed withdrawal from Gaza, some of the most visible leaders of American Judaism stand with the settlers, and insist that for a candidate to be pro-Jewish, they must do the same. NACRAC, the voice of the national Jewish community, is less and less willing to speak to “non-Jewish issues”, that is anything that isn’t Anti-Semitism or Israel, and we have the curious sight of the previously scrupulously non-partisan Israel lobby, AIPAC, at this past spring’s national convention responding to President George Bush’s speech, with a standing ovation and several minutes of shouts of “4 more years, 4 more years” while American Jews poll 74% in the opposite direction. This gap between the leadership and the people they claim to be leading bodes poorly for the future engagement of the majority of American Jews in what is usually viewed as the Jewish establishment.

It is here that our national Reform movement is so important. Rabbi Eric Yoffie is sometimes a lone voice on the Council of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, but he is a loud and well spoken voice. I was proud when Rabbi David Saperstein, head of the Reform movement’s Religious Action Center led the Jewish community on Darfur, Sudan and when the President of the Hebrew Union College, David Ellenson wrote a well reasoned and Jewishly informed response to an editorial that appeared in the national Jewish Press supporting a Constitutional Amendment on Marriage. Rabbi Sue Wasserman, a Reform colleague, was the Jewish voice at the March for Women’s Lives enunciating where our movement has stood for over 30 years and where we stand today. Our movement speaks well for us and speaks in a way that more truly represents the contemporary American Jewish community.

We have issues also within our local Jewish community. There is much that is positive. I feel personally enriched by the warm relationships between the clergy of the Reform and Conservative congregations in San Jose, and our ability to work together. We are fortunate to have as the president of our Federation a Jewishly committed individual who chants from the Torah using the correct High Holiday cantillation, and an executive director who wants to see this community grow and prosper. It’s an exciting time as the new Jewish Campus is being built on Oka Road. Having taught many an evening class at the JCC with rain dripping through the ceiling, I know this project was years overdue. If you haven’t driven by recently, you’ll be amazed at how far along things are already.

But recent priorities set by our local community seem to me to be out of touch, perhaps because only a certain segment of the community tends to participate actively in organized Jewish life. In our local community there are more unaffiliated Jews than Jews involved in the community. Communicating about local Jewish life would seem of vital importance if we are to help these Jews find an entry point into our community. Jewish Education is the life blood of Jewish continuity and recognizing the importance of educating children with special needs is the civil rights issue of our decade. We need to make Jewish education accessible to all Jewish children and to support those involved in every level of providing educational services. We are living in one of the most diverse cities in the country, with major populations of ethnic groups that have little experience or knowledge of the Jewish community. The Jewish Community Relations Council could play a key role in educating the general community about Jews and Judaism and building coalitions around common concerns. We are living and working side by side with Arab Americans in one of the larger centers of Islam in America. Let’s maximize the opportunities for dialogue and for presenting Israel’s challenges in a sympathetic light.

Look, our local organized Jewish community is not a distant cabal. Our local community is us and all it takes to reprioritize locally is the involvement of people who care. If there is something in the larger Jewish world outside of Shir Hadash that concerns you, get out there and help create a new consensus that includes your concerns as well. Two of our members have recently accepted appointments to the Federation board and the Federation allocations committee. I hope that others will follow in their footsteps. This is what the rabbis meant when they said; Al tifrosh min hatzibbur- don’t separate yourself from the community. When you disagree don’t take your toys and go home, remain involve until you feel the rules are fair.

American Jewish Life has been rich in blessings and in challenges, and we experience all of those on a national, local and congregational level. From 1654 and until today, Jews have found support and meaning in involvement in community, and being part of a community has been an essential element of Jewish identity. 50 years from now as the Jewish community celebrates 400 years of American Jewish Life, may it find us a growing community, not only in numbers, but in depth. May we at Shir Hadash truly be a kehillah kedoshah, a holy congregation, and may we be active contributors to Jewish life in our valley and in the nation.