Dear Friends, 

     I hope that this column finds you after a most meaningful High Holy Days experience. This sacred period is one which can serve to deepen our spirit and enhance our Jewish celebration throughout the entire year ahead. I therefore write this column as a continuation, of sorts, of my sermon on Yom Kippur morning, hoping evermore for a New Year of great celebration and constructive consequence for our community, for our People, and for the entire world. The premise of this column is that our considerations together of the more personal gleanings of our Services can lead to enduring meaning and ultimate purpose if broadened beyond ourselves as individuals and considered for their application to how we might strengthen the Jewish People and heal our broken world.

     If you’ll recall, I spoke on Yom Kippur morning of the vital necessity of the existence and participation of the Jewish People as a whole in the unfolding of history. I spoke about this from the perspective of the unique Jewish story of how the world came to be and the divinely worthy, if not inspired, humane Jewish vision of how our world might someday be. I also shared two correctives to what is sometimes reported as our sense of “privilege” as God’s “Chosen People.” We Jews are not an end unto ourselves, but we are rather a means to an end, very much in God’s hope that the world might become what God had always intended for it to become, namely, a place of ever-increasing goodness, ever-broadening peace, and ever-deepening generosity of spirit. Furthermore, we are not “chosen” for privilege, but, we are rather elected to responsibility; whether we like it or not, and whatever the cost, our task throughout history has been to champion life and elevate the downtrodden.

     In the course of this sermon, I also reflected upon one of the potentially dangerous errors of our era within the Jewish community. We often imagine that we as individuals, or as part of the whole of humanity, might make our ultimate difference in the world to an extent beyond that which we might achieve as an engaged, united, and motivated Jewish People. In fact, the Jewish story of the world indicates that, while we can make a meaningful difference for the better as individuals and as citizens of the world, it is likely that our greatest and most enduring impact might be achieved as part of a proudly identified and flourishing community among the Jewish People.

     The essence of our contemporary error is that instead of caring for the welfare of our Jewish brothers and sisters first and foremost, thus ensuring that we exist at all to make an enduring and collective Jewish difference, we skip this step, attempting to apply universal solutions to problems that we have not yet resolved toward the security and welfare of our Jewish brothers and sisters and those who celebrate and share with us in our Jewish journey.  It’s not that it is impossible for both the particular (in our case, causes making vital differences for Jews in need) and the universal to be addressed simultaneously. Rather, it is that we have by and large disengaged from particularist causes, and the activism associated with them, and committed almost exclusively to universal causes that seem to have a greater reach and broader appeal. However, these causes often do not sustain or achieve their aims as intended because their base of support is comprised of a less broadly or deeply interconnected or committed coalition of groups as opposed to communities with broad bonds and deep roots who share essential aims and sacred values in common, stretching across an entire approach to life. A coalition of the moment can never achieve the outcome of a timeless coalition rooted in a covenant among a People devoted to increasing and enhancing life in the world.

     And, lest anyone dismiss these observations, there is ample data to support concerns regarding any presumption of Jewish security. Aside from the State of Israel’s Jewish population, there is not a single large Jewish population in the world that is so much as repopulating itself from one generation to the next. Consider that only 10% of all philanthropy consisting of Jewish funding contributes specifically Jewish causes worldwide. Considering that Jews are overwhelmingly the primary source of funding for specifically to Jewish causes, this is a dangerous reality facing the Jewish world that our children will inherit from us. Lastly, let us all be mindful that not one Muslim country in the world has abandoned its claim that the State of Israel should not exist, with the possible exception of Egypt’s government; given Iran’s stated intentions to destroy the State of Israel and its ongoing effort to buy or develop a nuclear weapon, the Jewish future is not something that we should assume, but is rather something we must ensure!

     Our task therefore is to preserve the very future of Israel, our own Jewish future, and the likelihood that a Jewish vision for the world – one that regards life as humanity’s ultimate concern --  will prevail. Selfishly and selflessly, we can and will affect the future most positively by concerning ourselves with the particular at this moment in our history.

     So, where do we start? Let me suggest two important things, each very practical, to begin making our greatest difference. First, let’s each take a look at the brochure enclosed for our Adult Center for Jewish Learning and Cultural Arts. Find a class or an activity, a scholar or a teacher. Let us deepen our wisdom and heighten our spirit as a Jewish community. In doing so, our common bond will strengthen and our commitment to making a Jewish difference in the world will become better informed.

     Secondly, we must each take personal responsibility to ensure the safety and security of our Jewish brothers and sisters in Israel and the world over. If history had placed us in danger, would we not expect the same from other Jews elsewhere in the world? And, how can we ever expect to make a lasting and ultimate Jewish difference in the world if, in fact, we do not advocate fiercely to protect our own?

     Israel is a shining light unto the entire world. Its scientific, medical, and otherwise intellectual and moral/ethical contributions to the entire world are monumental! However, Israel is a tiny country in a dangerous neighborhood and it is vulnerable. We must take Iran’s threats to destroy Israel seriously and even personally.

     One very important way to make a difference on Israel’s behalf is to participate in our delegation to AIPAC’s annual conference in Washington that I am privileged to lead as your Rabbi each year. This year, the conference will be held from June 2nd through June 4th of 2008. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) constitutes the central organization of the Pro-Israel Movement in the United States. Lobbying efforts, organized and informed by AIPAC, make an immeasurable difference on Israel’s behalf. I urge you to please look at your calendar and determine whether or not you can join with us from June 2nd to June 4th of this coming year in Washington, D.C. Two years ago we were fortunate to bring ten people from our community. Last year, we were fortunate to bring over forty people from our community. This year, I would like to see us bring a delegation of 75 people or more to Washington, D.C. for AIPAC’s Annual Policy Conference. Yes, this is a significant challenge for us to meet. However, if our own lives and our own futures were on the line, would we expect anything less of our own brothers and sisters living elsewhere? This is the least we should expect, and we would hope for more!

     If you are interested in attending the AIPAC Conference in June of 2008, as noted above, please contact Pat Richman at (310)377-6986. She will then send you an email (or print it out for you and mail it to you if you are not on email) with specific instructions for how to register for the Conference as part of our delegation. She will also arrange for you to speak with me, at your request, to provide you with any information or assistance.

     Let’s make 5768 a year of enormous consequence for the healing and repair of the entire world. Let’s begin by making a difference for the Jewish People that will strengthen us long into the future, ensuring that we might make our greatest and most enduring contributions to humanity for generations to come!

 

B’Shalom—With Blessings of Peace and Wholeness,

Rabbi Isaac Jeret
Spiritual Leader