This is Helaine's Rosh Hashanah message for those of us who could not make it to services:
I think I know what you’re thinking, and it’s maybe 15 minutes long! That’s not too, too long, so... I have a question first: What excuse did Adam give to his children as to why he no longer lived in Eden? The answer: he gave?
“Your mother! She ate us out of house and home!” Okay, now to the serious.
On behalf of your trustees and the entire congregation, I want to thank Rabbi Kenneth Kanter, Director of the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, for being with us. I hope many of you meet with him while he is here. He’s a scholar who was willing to give of his personal time to conduct High Holy Day services for us when our student rabbi was unable to come. She’s conducting services for members of the military of which she also is a part. I also thank Melissa Gray for taking on the task of being our cantorial soloist. (Would you believe they only had about an hour last night in which to practice together?) I would like to thank individual volunteers who give their time all year round but it would take longer than my allotted time. Let me just say to those who participate in any way, we know who you are; you make it possible for us to have this congregation. You are appreciated!
When I was asked if I would allow my nomination as your president, I shuddered as I thought about taking on the responsibilities of this temple. The idea of speaking publicly scared me even more. Quite frankly I thought I was being asked because no one else would do it! I didn’t accept right away, had to give it much thought and had to make sure that if I did accept I had the full support of my husband Jim.
I knew that it was an honor to do anything for one’s congregation, and it would give a special purpose to my life. Well into my second year now, with the exception of falling in love and raising my children, without a doubt, it has been the most gratifying experience of my life. I sincerely wish for others to know the joy of serving in this way. I have made new friends both in our own community and in the larger organization of the Union for Reform Judaism. I have become aware of Jewish resources and gained much knowledge that I would never have otherwise known. I have been privy and gratified to have witnessed some acts of extreme kindness of people on our board and others in this congregation, which at times have made me well up with pride and realize what an honor it is to be associated with them, giving me more faith in the humane family of our little temple. I have also become comfortable speaking with you en mass.
Chairing your board has also made me aware of some of the most crucial issues facing the Jewish people today. One in particular is our very own existence – not only in this very small community but worldwide. Throughout history Judaism has been a tiny, thin gold thread. Today that gold thread is a mere 2% of the world’s population.
One reason for the small proportion of Jews is the many centuries of others trying to cause our extinction... from Biblical times to the present. Six million of us perished in the Holocaust, leaving behind a very different European and world Jewry. Some went into hiding and changed identity to avoid death in concentration camps. Others assimilated after the war to fit into society wherever they could.
Several years ago I worked with a man whose whole family was Catholic, but he told me they had once been Jewish. He called himself a “Mirrano.” He actually knew the facts about how his family had been forced, during the Spanish Inquisition, to convert from Judaism or be killed. Now they live but Judaism is dead to them.
My own paternal grandfather came to America to keep from being drafted into the Czar’s army where young Jewish men were made to remain privates for 25 years. Fortunately for me, his family did practice their religion, but in secret. And, they continued their Judaism when they came to America. My Hungarian maternal grandmother told me she came here because of the pogroms in which soldiers would ransack and burn Jewish homes simply because they were Jews.
During the invasion of Hitler’s army my late mother-in-law, age 13 and her parents literally had to flee from their village of Briansk, Poland, where there had been a thriving Jewish population. They wanted to escape the concentration camps. As their bus drove off they heard former gentile neighbors shouting, “Damn the Jews!” Today there is no indication whatsoever that there was ever a Jewish community there. Even their consecrated Jewish cemetery has been desecrated and then covered from neglect.
One weekend I visited my son in Athens, GA. Half way there from Atlanta, I was stopped at a red light in a small town where there was a demonstration by hooded Ku Klux Klansmen. One of them came over to my car and handed me a flyer. It was about getting rid of Jews.
Israelis have the threat of annihilation everyday. There is new news about anti-Semitic uprisings in Europe. Throughout history the Jewish people have been challenged to exist. Right now too!
In America, we still live in a Christian-dominated society but Jews have been able to prosper. There is more respect for the beliefs of others but it is still difficult to be good Jews.
Society’s Gregorian calendar and events are not based on the Jewish lunar year and its holidays, and often they conflict. My point is we have to do what we can individually and locally with our Jewish community to keep us alive and well.
Nobel Prize winner, Elie Wiesel, said:
“To be part of a community, to shape it, and to strengthen it is the most urgent, the most vital obligation facing the Jewish individual.”
Our temple is but a small part of the world’s Jewish Community. It is also the home where our families can join together to celebrate mitzvahs, share grief, and pass on traditions. Recently, as is the case from time to time with folks passing through, the father-in-law of the brother of a prominent local man, passed away while visiting him in another town. On their way back to Chicago two days later, the couple, Conservative Jews, and their b’nai mitzvah teenage twins, stopped here and needed a minyan to say Kaddish. It was a mitzvah we were able to get together a group for this purpose.
We need to exist for that minyan and for the many other obvious reasons. But, just as a family cannot pay bills without income, so a temple family cannot exist for the same reason. Tzedaka is a mitzvah and without it we can easily be extinct. This is, of course, an appeal speech for donations. But it is also about the commitment of your time, your skills and your talents in any capacity.
My time is up. Yours is not, however.
There are envelopes in your seats. It’s up to “all of us.” Donate now so we can continue to exist for all the right reasons. The most important reason, of course, is our children. All of them.
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