Liminality

Rabbi Melanie Aron

Saturday, August 16, 2008

The new blue prayer book, Mishkan Tefillah, we used last night has a few significant differences in the wording of the prayers from the older and more familiar grey prayer book, The Gates of Prayer Newly Revised, we are using this morning. The one that catches people most often is the switch in the order of the matriarchs, Rachel and Leah v. Leah and Rachel. Those from more traditional backgrounds are surprised to find any of the matriarchs in our prayers, an innovation of the Reform, Reconstructionist and, in many communities, also Conservative movements since the 1980’s.

Another difference is in the order of the morning blessings, which we chanted in the early part of our service. This change is actually primarily a reversion to an earlier tradition, and has brought new attention to these blessings.

The morning blessings are discussed in Talmud Berachot in the context of blessings that one says on entering or leaving a city. A city has distinct political and geographical boundaries and in entering or leaving one makes a transition. In the city one has the protection of the city guards, and on the road one would travel with a caravan for protection. But in between was a point of vulnerability, what anthropologists and sociologists call a liminal experience. (I believe this remains the case today, when important individuals like Presidents and Prime Ministers, makes their transition from the motorcade into a building.)

As a congregation we are experiencing liminality right now. Back in April we had two intact buildings, in which we could conduct our regular activities. There were some ways these buildings were inadequate and that’s what prompted our renovation project. Later this winter and spring, we will be in a new situation, with new classrooms, expanded office, oneg and library space, and a very useful multipurpose room. But right now we are in transition.

Hannah and Matthew, coming to Temple over the past few months for your lessons, you have had the full experience of this transition. You have an appreciation for what it has meant to have jack hammers outside the cantor’s office during your lessons, or people walking on the roof above you as you work on your speeches. You have wandered through the dirt and dust, trying to figure out where we were this week. You have been with us in the midst of this liminal experience, an experience of being neither here nor there, or as my grandmother would say in Yiddish nisht a hein, nisht a hare, neither coming nor going. Perhaps it’s given you an appreciation of why people look to religion for help in negotiating these challenging transitions to a new status.

Let’s think now of the morning blessings in the context of liminality. In the morning, we are leaving behind the world of sleep and dreams. We may have anxieties about the new day, which will force us out of our comfortable cocoon and out into the world. The morning blessings take us through a reconstruction of ourselves, putting ourselves together physically, as we straighten ourselves up, put on our clothes and shoes, fasten our belts, and don our hats. But it also helps us put ourselves together spiritually, as we wake up into aspects of our identity, as a human being, as a Jew, and as a student of Torah.

The blessings also echo the stages of Adam and Eve’s moral growth as well, the opening of their eyes, not only in their awareness of their nakedness, but also in their learning about choices and responsibilities. The blessings accompany us, like temporary guards, as it were, from outside the city, into the city.

Bar and Bat Mitzvah is parallel to the morning blessings, accompanying twelve and thirteen year olds through a time also of being neither here nor there, neither a child nor an adult. These preparations and this celebration offer you support and acknowledgement. They are our traditions way of recognizing this change and also guiding you and your families through it. They provide a task worthy of your growing skills and a way for you to take your place within the community. And as society has changed and the transition to adulthood is no longer over at 14 with your betrothal and apprenticeship, the Reform movement has extended that support and recognition with Confirmation at age 16, another important transition in the life of a teenager. I am glad to be with you today and look forward to continuing with you as you move further along on your life’s journey.