Rosh Hashanah Eve: “To be a Jewish is to be a Dreamer” 5770 (2009)
Rosh Hashanah Eve: “To be a Jewish is to be a Dreamer” 5770 (2009)
By Rabbi Julie Hilton Danan
A rebbe and his devoted disciple were on a journey.
Night was falling as the passed a forest, so they had to stop, make camp, and set up a tent for the night. After they got their tent all set up, both men fell sound asleep.
Some hours later, the student woke the rabbi and said,
“Rabbi, look towards sky. What you see?’
The rabbi replied, ‘I see millions of stars.’
‘What does that tell you?’ asked the student.
The rabbi pondered for a minute then stroked his beard and said,
“Astronomically speaking, it tells me there are millions of galaxies.
Time wise, it’s a quarter past three in the morning.
Theologically, Hashem is all powerful, and we are small and insignificant.
Meteorologically, it seems we will have a beautiful day tomorrow.
And turning dreamily toward his pupil, the rabbi asked, and what does it tell you, my son?”
“Shmendrick! Yells the hassid, “It tells me that somebody stole our tent!”
To be a Jew is to be a dreamer. Maybe to overlook the harsh realities of the moment and see past them to the stars. To keep proclaiming, “next year in Jerusalem” at the end of every Yom Kippur and Passover Seder, no matter how dire the circumstances. To sing, “Hatikvah,” the hope, as the Israeli national anthem. To speak of Tikkun Olam, repairing the world, no matter how messy and imperfect the world may get.
We have always been dreamers. I take myself back to a scene at the turn of the 20th century. A plucky young girl named Rochel, twelve years old, stands on the deck of a packed, rocking ship as the State of Liberty emerged into view. She is tremendously grateful to be leaving behind the poverty and danger of life for Jews on the Russian-Polish border. She is sorry, though, that she had to leave school and become a seamstress to help support her family. She gazes out at the shore, dreaming of a better life for herself and her family on the packed streets of New York’s Lower East Side, where she will now be known as Rose. I wonder how far her imagination could take her. Could she have dreamed at that moment that all of her children would go to college? Could she have imagined as the ship drew into harbor that in her great-granddaughter’s day women would be counted in a minyan in the synagogue, make an aliyah to the Torah? If you had told her that her great-great granddaughter would become a rabbi, she might have just laughed her delightful chuckle and thought was a crazy, wonderful dream. But she was always looking forward and never back.
I am my Great-grandmother Rose’s dream. And you are somebody else’s dream. If you are a woman with a profession, a Jew who has equal rights in a free society, a person who has lived in Israel, you were fulfilling the dreams of countless people who came before you. Nothing great can be achieved without starting as a vision or dream. Jewish mysticism teaches that a dream is like a blueprint. For the mystics, creation of anything new begins in Beriah, the world of dreams, visions, ideas. From there it filters through the world of Yetzirah, planning and formation of the details, and then into the world of Assiyah, hard work and actual accomplishment. As Albert Einstein said, “imagination is more important than knowledge.” If you can imagine it, it can be, if not here and now, then someday and somewhere. If we want the best future of our community and our world to be fulfilled, we have to dream about them today, just as our ancestors dreamed for and about us.
To be a Jew is to be a dreamer. After the first Zionist Congress in Basle Switzerland in 1897, Theodore Herzl, the founder of Modern Zionism, wrote in his diary, “Were I to sum up the Basle Congress in a word- which I shall guard against pronouncing publicly- it would be this: ‘At Basle, I founded the Jewish State. If I said this out loud today, I would be answered by universal laughter. If not in 5 years, certainly in 50, everyone will know it.’” Almost exactly 50 years to the day of that entry, give or take a few months, the State of Israel was born. In 1902, Herzl published a utopian novel about the Jewish state, Altneuland (old-new land). The novel concludes, “Im tirtzu, ein zo aggadah, if you will it, it is not just a legend,” the dream can become a reality.
Just because a dream is realized or even a miracle happens doesn’t mean that there is not more work to do. The fact that the state of Israel still faces many critical challenges should not invalidate the miracle of dream realized. The Midrash says that when the Red Sea parted and the people of Israel were freed from slavery, two Israelites, Reuven and Shimon, never looked up from the mud at their feet. They crossed the sea without elevating their consciousness and only saw the shmutz (the dirt) and not the miracle. Every miracle, every dream realized has its share of hardship and imperfection. That doesn’t negate the realization of a dream, it just means that it’s time for the next dream to take us to the next level.
If dreams have gotten us where we are, why is it so hard to dream today? The obvious answer is the economy. We feel a need to temper our big dreams because we aren’t sure how to pay for them. Harsh economic realities can be bracing when they force us to discern what is important and what is frivolous. But overall we feel a sense of contraction, not expansion, in our society. More insidious is the cynicism and lack of trust we feel. We are jaded by the pervasiveness of corruption among our leaders and the power of money and special interests in our governmental process. Even our respect for people of G-d is tainted by scandals with priests abusing children, kosher plants abusing immigrants, or rabbis involved in money laundering.
Indeed, I felt a sense of ambivalence approaching my sermons this fall. My training with ALEPH, Jewish Renewal, and now with the STAR programs has taught me to think of the boldest possibilities for our future, to dream the big dream. But we can’t ignore the fact that so many in our community are suffering as the result of the economic downturn and state budget cuts. One of my all-time favorite Jewish quotation is from the great American Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel: “In a free society, some are guilty, but all are responsible.” Particularly on Yom Kippur, we will look a few of our current realities in the face as we focus our response-ability. That’s in keeping with Jewish tradition. On Rosh Hashanah, we dream of the big picture of the year, and on Yom Kippur we confront our daily failings and commit to living a better life.
So at this season, we need to face both our realities and our dreams. We must be wise, prudent, and compassionate in our ways of dealing with the current economic crisis and its impact on our community. But we must continue to envision and pursue our dreams, because in today’s fast-paced world, standing still is moving backwards. People can get burned out quickly helping us to address the crisis du jour, but they will be inspired and impassioned, even in difficult times, by helping us to build tomorrow’s dream.
What do we dream for our community? This Rosh Hashanah I ask you to dream with me. Let us first reflect on all the dreams that have already been realized for Congregation Beth Israel. In 1957, Rabbi Leo Trepp, a distinguished scholar and professor, was invited to attend a Religious Emphasis Week at Chico State University. While in Chico, Rabbi Trepp addressed a gathering at the Puritz home, to stimulate interest in reactivating the congregation. He had dreams and visions for this little outpost of Judaism, with just 15 active Jewish families. His vision and the community’s willingness to join with him led to CBI as it is half a century later, with our own building, nearly 100 households and one of the very few full time congregational rabbis in the entire Northstate. Those 15 families dreamed for us, now we need to dream for the coming years and the coming generations.
2010 will mark 50 years since Mendel Tochterman, still a member of CBI in his 90’s, drew up the Articles of Incorporation for our congregation. Let us celebrate that anniversary a year from now by dedicating land for a future congregation home that will attract many more families and individuals to become part of this community. Let us dream not only about our next beautiful building and grounds, and the many expansive things that we will be able to do there, but about what this community can be, a truly welcoming center for Jewish life, culture, greener living and spirituality in the Northstate, a living laboratory for new kinds of outreach to a changing Jewish community. The broader Jewish community worldwide is now searching for creative ways to engage younger Jews, the unaffiliated, those in interfaith families, and other spiritual seekers. We have the perfect environment in the California Northstate to create a new kind of synagogue center that is a home base for Jewish community, culture, learning and spirituality.
A “scroll of dreams” has been placed on the bulletin board in our lobby. Sometime over the holiday season, whenever you wish, write in your big dream for CBI on that scroll, whether it is a dream for our communal home, future programs that will take place under our roof, or dreams of the quality and experience of community life we will experience in the future. You can also join a discussion of our dreams for CBI during our Torah discussion at the Sunday morning service, or on our Facebook page (you can get there by pressing a button on our website. Hey, it’s just a new kind of scroll; you know, scrolling down the page…) Like those who dreamed for us, let’s get talking this Rosh Hashanah about where we want our community to be in another 5, 10 and 50 years. Let us gather our communal dreams and visions, roll up our sleeves, and turn them into reality.
In the words of the prophet Joel: “Your sons and daughters shall prophesy; your elder sages will dream dreams, and your youth will be visionaries.” May we start off the New Year of 5770 with a deep sense of responsibility and commitment, but let us always, always remain dreamers.
Rosh Hashanah Day I: “Shabbat: Living the Dream”
Jack was coming out of shul one day, and the rabbi was standing at the door as he always did to shake hands.
The rabbi grabbed Jack by the hand and pulled him aside.
The rabbi said to him, “You need to join G-d’s army, my man; join the the Army of HaShem!”
Jack replied, “I’m already in the Army of HaShem, Rabbi.”
The rabbi leaned in and questioned, “How come I almost never see you except at Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur?!”
Jack whispered back, “I’m in the secret service.”
But Jack was missing something by not coming to services on Shabbat, because Shabbat is at the heart of Jewish life…
Last night, I spoke about the importance of remaining Jewish dreamers, even in hard times. But how do we keep dreaming in difficult times? There are probably none better to ask than our people. Despite difficulties and persecutions, we have kept alive the dream of redemption, and of a world perfected as a godly kingdom on earth. How have we done so? There are many answers, but I think that the most powerful way in Judaism has been to have a regular taste of the dream. If the dream is Olam Haba, the world that is coming, the messianic era on earth, we have me’ein Olam Haba, a small taste of the world to come. We get that every week and it is called “Shabbat.”
In the words of Rabbi Yitz Greenberg, “According to the Genesis account, this world originally was and is still meant to be a paradise. But only when there is peace, with abundant resources and an untrammeled right to live, will the world be structured to sustain the infinite value of the human being. This is the heart of Judaism, the dream.
“Jewish existence without the dream is inconceivable. The drawing power of the vision has kept Jews faithful to their mission over several millennia. Expulsion, persecution, and destruction have assaulted but never obliterated the dream…
“[But] Living with a dream is treacherous business… Dreams can give life purpose or rob it of value and meaning… The question has been: Which tendency will win out in Jewish history? The Shabbat day is Judaism’s central attempt to inject the dream into life while preventing its negative side effects…”
Rabbi Greenberg continues, “The classic Jewish answer to our dilemma is to set up a rhythm of perfection. The first movement is to plunge into this world as a participant. Then, just when there may be a danger of complete absorption into this world, there is an alternate reality to enter into: the Shabbat. Stepping outside the here and now, the community creates a world of perfection. Through total immersion in the Shabbat experience, Jews live the dream now.”
This first day of Rosh Hashanah falls on a Shabbat and so it seems particularly appropriate to reflect on the meaning of Shabbat. And since we are talking this Rosh Hashanah about dreams, let us reflect on Shabbat as the dream of the way that the world should be, and also on dreams for what Shabbat will mean in this new millennia.
When we look at the list of the Ten Commandments, we would never consider murdering or stealing. I hope that we wouldn’t consider bearing false witness, committing adultery or even coveting; at least we know that these are hurtful sins. We surely see the value of honoring our parents, even if we find it difficult at times. And yet, for some reason, we tend to think that the fourth commandment, to keep the Shabbat, is just kind of a nice, optional suggestion that to which we don’t need to pay much attention. But the Torah clearly considers it just as important as “thou shalt not murder.” Shabbat is a taste of the Jewish dream, a chance to live for a day in a world of peace, harmony, and community, a world of abundant leisure, laughter and learning. Amazingly, we get this chance every week, and everyone is invited.
Shabbat is surely one of the greatest gifts of Judaism to the world, the concept that we should have one day in seven to put aside our activities as a Human Do-ing, and to be for 24 hours a Human Be-ing (actually 25 hours, from sunset on Friday until dark on Saturday night, as we always try to draw out the Sabbath a little bit). Several decades ago, the great American Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote a classic book, “The Sabbath,” in which he captured the spiritual meaning of this day. We have all had one or more books that transformed our lives, and for me this was the one, when I first read it as a teen.
Heschel wrote: “The meaning of the Sabbath is to celebrate time rather than space. Six days a week we live under the tyranny of things of space; on the Sabbath we try to become attuned to holiness in time. It is a day on which we are called upon to share in what is eternal in time, to turn from the results of creation to the mystery of creation; from the world of creation to the creation of the world.”
The spiritual message of Shabbat is timeless, and yet the physical and emotional impact of Shabbat today is different than it was for our ancestors. All week long, many of them toiled physically and ate simple food. Only on Shabbat they were like royalty, resting from their labors and eating the finest food of the week. The Talmud prohibited 39 kinds of crafts and labors on Shabbat, which gave our ancestors a much needed break. In today’s world many of us earn our livings in busy professions, in offices, staring at computer screens or engaging in business. Most of us are stuck indoors much of the time, sitting in chairs. We have plenty to eat, but often in a rush or without enough awareness of what we are eating. We need to renew the dream of Shabbat for a new time. The Shabbat of the future, the Shabbat for the 21st century (or do I mean the 58th century?) will be one in which we connect to nature, nurture our families, and move from isolation to community.
First, in a world with too much time spent indoors, Shabbat will be a time for Nature, for appreciating creation and living in more harmony with our environment. Shabbat is called, “zecher le-ma’asei vereisheet,” a remembrance of G-d’s work of creation, a reminder of the awesomeness of nature. Most who have lived a long time here in Northern California also feel a lot of closeness to nature and love to spend time hiking, gardening or camping. I was lucky to grow up with a country home in the Texas Hill Country and to spend many hours alone, in contemplation by the river, cliffs and bluffs. I can’t tell you how much that shaped who I am today and my spiritual quest. And wherever we grew up, many of us had formative Jewish experiences outdoors at summer camps. The broader Jewish community is starting to catch up with this awareness. There is a burgeoning of new Jewish environmental groups and organizations, and a spate of new books with titles like “A Wild Faith,” “Spirit in Nature,” or “God in the Wilderness,” and programs like “Torah Trek” and the “Adventure Rabbi.” Our recent Religious School Shabbaton in the environs of the Lassen National Forest demonstrated how perfectly Shabbat meshes with time in Nature. My dream of our future Shabbats as a community includes more outdoor and nature focused services and activities. But don’t forget the simple beauty of a Shabbat afternoon walk in Bidwell Park. There are many spiritual lessons to be learned in nature, and even a Shabbat hike or time to meditate outdoors can give us space to renew our dreams. As Rabbi Jamie Korngold points out, the Torah was given in the wilderness, on a mountaintop, and much of our spirituality can be found most readily as we contemplate the awesomeness of God’s creation.
Second: In a world of individuals, Shabbat will be a time for family. In today’s family life, we are very busy, usually with two employed parents. Kids and parents are all tethered to our laptops and cell phones. Children and teens have busy schedules full of sports and lessons. Shabbat is an antidote to the isolation we may feel from one another during the week. It is simply the Jewish tradition’s best recipe to build a strong family life. As the Israeli philosopher Ahad Ha’am said, “More than Israel has kept the Sabbath, the Sabbath has kept Israel.”
Shabbat contains all the ingredients that modern research has shown to foster strong families, which include lots of shared table time and leisure time, a shared religious core that includes family-centered rituals and traditions and that fosters spiritual wellness, strong values about ethics and service (which we can share in our Shabbat stories and discussions), and emotional wellness. It doesn’t mean families need to become Orthodox in order to observe Shabbat. My sister serves her children French toast made of challah as a Shabbat tradition. A Bay Area family takes their children on a hike in a different park every Shabbat. The main thing is that we identify these activities as our Shabbat time, and we save the chores and errands for another day. I am so grateful that CBI has received a Community Development Grant from the Jewish Federation of the Greater Sacramento Region to “Turn Friday Night into Shabbat.” We have used this grant to offer family friendly Shabbat experiences like catered dinners, and to give our young families Shabbat materials and to do family education programs around Shabbat. The dream of a Shabbat is a dream for family health and harmony.
Finally, in a world of increasing social atomization, Shabbat will be a time for Community. Fortunately in a smaller city like Chico or the surrounding towns, we have more means of connecting with others, but still, many of us live far from our extended family and modern life can be isolating and lonely for many. The past year has brought economic stress and worry. Our technologies give us a feeling of sharing, but we may lack real interpersonal time for being with other people face to face, especially with a common purpose. Shabbat is a time that we can come together with our community in our communal home. In today’s stressful and anxiety-provoking world, the synagogue can serve as a home away from home, a center for connection, rejuvenation, inspiration and caring, most effectively on on Shabbat, the day devoted to spiritual growth.
Shabbat at CBI is a time and place to connect with community. Friday evenings are a sweet time to be with friends, singing, talking, noshing, listening to a speaker, or enjoying our first Friday Mishpachah family Shabbats and dinners. And our Shabbat morning services…they are simply a day spa for your soul. Each hour brings something different, so come and go when you wish. At 9:00 a.m. we have an adult study on varying topics, focusing this fall on “The Prophets.” But whatever the text, we always learn it in the very personalized context of what it means to us today, in our own lives and spiritual journeys. At 10:00 a.m. we enjoy a short time of peaceful and relaxing guided meditation. This leads into an hour of contemplative prayer, with lots of singing, and then at 11 a.m. an hour of reading and discussing the Torah portion and what it means to us today. At noon we all share a delicious Kiddush lunch prepared by one of our members. The fellowship that we experience together makes many people want to come back every week. You don’t have to travel or go to an expensive retreat center; this kind of experience and community is waiting for you here every Shabbat. So if you’ve been meaning to come to services more often, but just putting it off, please use this Rosh Hashanah to make a new year’s resolution to take some time for your heart and soul and maybe lowering your blood pressure (no medical claims implied) by joining your community on Shabbat.
Shabbat is a taste of our dream for the world. It reminds us that we are not the ultimate creators of this miraculous world, and yet it energizes us to go out and repair and build a better world in the coming week. The Shabbat of the future can be found today in nature, in family, in community. As the New Year begins today on Shabbat, let us resolve to make this our year to rediscover Shabbat as a community and to live the dream now.
[Note: On Shabbat, prior to the Grace after Meals, Birkat Ha-mazon, we sing Psalm 126, in which say, “A song of ascents. When the Eternal returned us to Zion, we were like dreamers.” Even in exile, we felt the dream of return to Zion had already come true..]
