Kedoshim-New
Member Shabbat
We are
living in an age where the biblical verse “Love your Neighbor as yourself “is
put to the test. We read about so much that divides us. We read about the
politics and the economics that have challenged our faith in the elected
leadership. We ourselves read newspaper accounts of incidents inside our own
community such as teachers in the public schools hurling anti-Semitic slurs and
manhandling students. There are other abuses of human dignity that happen in
our region. And I hope it makes us feel just a bit more secure knowing that we
have a Jewish Community at Congregation Beth Yam which will watch out and speak
out for all of us at times when we feel deeply concerned about an issue in the
community.
The Torah
portion for this week is Kedoshim and it reminds us to imitate God in the way
we live. For the most sacred kinds of values and behaviors are those that God
has taught us to model these sacred values and behaviors. Congregation Beth Yam is an institution that
is supposed to represent those values of human dignity to each other and to the
entire community. But when we see that others do not practice them then we must
reflect carefully before we as a community respond. For those of us who are
joining this congregation I say this because the reported incident in the
newspaper this week of the Bluffton Middle school teacher has taught us a
lesson about why we need to value and respect the purpose of having a temple in
the low country. It is not always about the particular worship pattern we
present or the adult education courses or the youth programs. They are all
important. But tonight we ask why do we need a Jewish community for our
relationships with the outside world? To answer this question is to answer
another question. “Why am I joining a congregation and what am I investing in
when I support this congregation?
We read in
the Parasha “You shall not oppress your neighbor.” You shall not rob them. You
shall render judgment fairly. Do not
gossip and do not hate your brother in your heart. You shall not stand by the
blood of your neighbor.” All these verses are telling us that God has high
expectations from us. And what unifies all these verses is the moral imperative
to use individual restraint to keep our emotions in line. It is not just
telling us what to do but how to feel emotionally towards our neighbors.
Sometimes that could be our loved ones and other times those in the community
we live in.
The Parasha
continues to guide us about restraining our inner emotions. The Torah reminds
us to treat senior adults with respect. And there is a great deal here about
not harassing the strangers. We read about sexual immorality on all levels
regarding prohibited behaviors within families. Again the point is to not indulge
heated emotions nor our physical desires too. The Torah tells us about setting
boundaries on all levels of human interaction.
God is
telling us that God wants us to be different and that is why we have these
laws. “For you shall be holy to Me, for
I, the Eternal One, am holy, and I have distinguished you from the
peoples, to be Mine” (20:26).
We feel
different and separate because we are Jews. I think that is part of the
privilege of being Jewish. We have a different kind of mandate to observe laws
and traditions that God handed down to our ancestors who transmitted them to
us. Being identified as different, however, is a not so easy to cope with
especially in our community. We imagine that when we retire to Hilton Head and
Bluffton we don’t have to deal with so-called “Jewish issues.” The truth is
that we do have a responsibility if we have any sense of honor or dignity about
who we are as a Jewish community to educate others about us and there are times
when advocacy is also important. The case of the school teacher has opened up
questions not only about how the school system handles the Holocaust and Jewish
students and faculty but also about the culture of the schools in how well they
embrace religious diversity and how responsive they are to the Jewish
community. Remember we have probably over 30 kids in our temple in the public
schools and congregants who teach in these schools as well.
I am sure
that protecting Jewish kids and faculty in our school system is not the reason
for joining our congregation. But the idea that joining our community
strengthens us and those who need our support has been part and parcel of the
Jewish community mission in America. That mission does not change even when we
retire.
Our faith
tradition is concerned about life and there is no such thing as retirement from
the world. Age itself does not exempt us from not acting or caring about
injustice or building bridges for mutual understanding. And that is what we
want to do with the school system and that is why we need our congregation to
be knowledgeable about what happens in our community.
I am glad we
have such a vibrant group of new members joining us this year. The leadership
of Penne Meiselman and Mike Weingarten and their committee deserve our
appreciation. We are striving for the kind of community that broadens the reach
of this congregation into the community at large to do good work even if the
issues are delicate and, at times, controversial. We will work hard with the
leadership and engage us to make a difference in the low country. I personally
want to thank all the new members for making this choice and strengthening our
standing in the community. Your volunteerism in the broader community enhances
the reputation and credibility Congregation Beth Yam.
It is
possible that we didn’t realize it when we joined this congregation but we
invested something of our souls in standing united with a Jewish community. We
invested our commitment to protecting the values that Torah teaches us for our
children and teens and their parents as well as for all the age groups. They
stand upon our shoulders and we must be strong for them and for the future so
that anyone moving here will know that Congregation Beth Yam is a beacon of
light and the central address for the Jewish community. That is the sacred
mission of our community to imitate God’s will to fashion a healthy involved
and secure Jewish community.
Shabbat
Shalom
