Dear Friends,

On Monday, we marked the first day of the Jewish calendar year, and together we committed ourselves to practicing an attitude of gratitude and renew a sense of daily awe in our lives. In my sermon, I assigned some homework for these Ten Days of Awe (the days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur).

Our task is to make a daily account of something for which we are grateful. This can take the form on a journal entry, a text, a prayer, or a letter. Whatever form we may choose to use, let us formally express our gratitude at least once a day.

I pray that this exercise in expressing gratitude will serve as a powerful catalyst in enabling us to appreciate the blessings that surround us every day. In this way, we can usher in a sweet and fulfilling 5783.

Shanah Tovah,
Steve

Dear Friends,

The Hebrew translation of the phrase, “I am sorry,” is selicha.  It is a concept that weighs heavy on our minds during this season.  As we begin to prepare ourselves for the High Holy Days, it is important to take time to consider the actions and behaviors of this past year for which we are sorry.

This process will officially begin on Friday night at a special service called Selichot (which means “apologies”).  Through special songs and meditations, we will formally mark the beginning of the penitential season.

Please join us this Friday night, September 23rd as we begin our spiritual preparations for this season.

Whether it is through a special worship service or through private moments of introspection, this is the time to begin to examine our behaviors and prepare for the Days of Awe. I pray that the ensuing weeks of personal reflection will be productive and cathartic for each of us.

Shanah Tovah,
Steve

Dear Friends,

In our Torah portion this week, Ki Tavo, we have an awesome array of blessings and curses. At this season, as we begin to reflect on our behaviors over the course of the past year, it is important to keep an open mind regarding what constitutes a blessing and what manifests itself as a curse, for sometimes the distinction between the two can be blurry.

In order to maximize our blessings and minimize our curses, it is helpful to keep an open mind and train ourselves to learn and grow from our mistakes. It is important to expand our abilities to see our losses as opportunities to grow and approach every task with sincerity, empathy, and honesty.

As human beings, we are bound to fail, but our failings need not curse us. This season invites us to identify blessing that emerge from our mistakes and encourages us to seek opportunities to extend ourselves to promote goodness, kindness and truth to the world around us. In this way, any curse that may seem to befall us can become a blessing in disguise.

L’Shalom,
Steve

Dear Friends,

The final month of the Hebrew calendar year is the month of Elul.  It is a month imbued with meaning as our community embarks on a 40 day journey from the first of Elul to Yom Kippur. This 40 day process echoes other important events in our lives and our heritage which span of 40 days, 40 weeks and 40 years.

• 40 days of the flood in the story of Noah;
• 40 days of waiting for the Torah at Sinai
• 40 years of wandering in the wilderness
• 40 weeks of pregnancy
• 40 days of preparation from Elul to Yom Kippur

In each of these circumstances, the number 40 plays a major role in the human transition from chaos to renewal.  In the story of Noah, the world is born again after 40 days of flooding.  In the story of Moses and the receiving of Torah, 40 days of waiting results in the Laws that would forever shape the Jewish experience.  In the case of 40 years of wandering, our people find renewal as they enter the Promised Land.  In the case of childbirth, 40 weeks of gestation results in the promise of new hopes and dreams, as renewal is realized with every new life.

So too it is regarding this sacred 40-day journey from Elul to Yom Kippur.  These 40 days present us a spiritual period of gestation and inner wandering.  During these 40 days we are supposed to consider how we might create closure to issues which have plagued us and set out a path for reconciliation and renewal.

During this sacred month, may we all be blessed with the insight to understand the impact of our actions and the strength to right any wrongs we may have committed, so that at the end of these 40 days we may find a sense of renewal for the year ahead.

L’Shalom,
Steve

Dear Friends,

Our bible is filled with commandments regarding ways to establish justice and mercy in the world, and this week’s Torah portion presents us with one of the most powerful statements regarding this eternal obligation.  In Deuteronomy 16:20, we read,

“Justice, justice you shall pursue…”

In this short and powerful commandment, the word “justice” is repeated twice seeming to emphasize the importance of justice in our world.  These words stand to remind us that from generation to generation every individual has the responsibility to act in ways that promote justice wherever it is lacking.

HCRJ is proud to participate in ongoing efforts to address justice in food distribution in the City of Houston. Here are two important way you can fulfill this mitzvah in the coming weeks:

Competing In Goodness
We are participating in Competing In Goodness for our High Holy Days Food Drive this year. Through a friendly competition in September, during National Hunger Awareness Month, Jewish, Muslim and Christian communities will compete against one another to collect non-perishable items for the Houston Food Bank. This interfaith competition is a terrific opportunity to work together to benefit our city, develop a stronger sense of community, and motivate participants to reach across to their neighbors. Please bring your items to HCRJ during Rosh Hashanah or anytime in September.

Social Action Project at the Houston Food Bank
Our HCRJ social action team will be volunteering at the Houston Food Bank on Saturday, September 17th from 1-4pm. The volunteer responsibilities will include inspecting, sorting, and repackaging donated food items for community distribution. The Houston Food Bank is America’s largest food bank in distribution leading hunger relief in 18 southeast Texas counties.

L’Shalom,
Steve

 
 

 

 

 

Dear Friends,

The final month of the Jewish calendar year is Elul. Elul is considered to be a month-long journey for the soul and an emotional prelude to the Days of Awe. Elul invites us to consider pathways to a New Year that will be filled with blessings of renewal.

As congregation we have created a beautiful opportunity to welcome this special month together with a Havdalah Service and Happy Hour. With the symbols of Havdalah, we will use all of our senses to explore ways to sweeten the coming year, and the Happy Hour will help us usher in this holy season with joy and fellowship.

Please join us this Saturday night at 5:30pm for an evening that promises to brighten the spirit with spirits and bring us together in preparation for a sweet new year ahead.

L’Shalom,
Steve

Dear Friends,

On this Sabbath – in congregations all over the world – we read that – Moses addresses the community with the following words:

Circumcise the foreskin of your heart – and stiffen your necks no more. (Deut. 10:16) 

This image of a circumcised heart is echoed again by the Prophet Jeremiah, who (when addressing the corruption of his times and the absence of morality throughout the society in which he lived) uses very similar words.  Jeremiah tells the people of his day to:

Circumcise your hearts to the Lord. Cut away the thickening about your hearts …  lest [God’s] anger break forth like fire and burn, with none to quench it, because of your wicked acts. (Jeremiah 4:1-4)

In each of these passages, Moses and Jeremiah are clearly calling for the people to change their ways, but what exactly does this reference to a circumcised heart mean?

One clue might be gleaned from the idea the ancient societies understood the heart to be the organ of comprehension. Therefore, an uncircumcised heart might better be translated as a “closed mind” or “close-mindedness.”

In light of this understanding, the call of our prophets to “circumcise the foreskin of our hearts” is as important to us today as it was in the past.  As we strive to heed this ancient call, we need to make a concerted effort to strip ourselves of conceit by listening more and judging less.

L’Shalom,
Steve

Dear Friends,

The image above comes from the glass panels that adorn the Oppenheimer Foyer as you enter our building. These words are familiar to every Jew, and they come from this week’s Torah portion.

Shema Yisrael, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Echad.
Hear, O Israel, the Eternal is our God, the Eternal God is One.

This six-word phrase is one of the most important texts in Jewish life. Traditionally, the Shema is recited twice a day. It provides us with a sense of comfort before we go to sleep at night, establishes a sacred mindset when we wake up in the morning. In reciting these words daily, the Shema helps us connect with Jews around the globe and across generations.

This simple statement of faith also serves to remind us that there is an eternal source of power and energy that pulses through all existence. This divine force links all people and all creation to a single source, which (in our severely fragmented world) is often overlooked.

This past weekend, I had the privilege of joining an amazing group of teens from the Holy Land (the preferred term used by the participants of Jerusalem Peacebuilders/Peace Camp). These remarkable campers spent two weeks working hard on building bridges toward peace. At the core of their work is a mutual recognition of the fact that while Jews, Christians and Muslims may have differing beliefs, God is at the heart of our shared endeavors.

During my brief time at this camp each year, I am inspired, encouraged, and humbled as these brave souls commit themselves to learning from each other. They refuse to allow hatred and violence squelch their hopes for peace, and they refuse to allow religious differences divide them. For these bold young leaders, the Shema’s declaration of unity is a clarion call for all human beings.

These campers will be joining us this Friday night for Shabbat Services. They will share their experiences and maybe even sing a song for us.  Bring friends to services to spread a message of hope and learn about this groundbreaking camp and how it strives to build bridges of peace by planting seeds of trust and understanding in the next generation of leadership.

L’Shalom,
Steve

Dear Friends,

This week, we begin the Book of Deuteronomy. This final book of the Torah is an oration by Moses, who is recounting the entire story of the Israelites from the Exodus from Egypt to the precipice of the Promised Land.  According to our tradition, this oration was delivered in a single day to the entire community, and for the sages, the fact that Moses was heard and understood by all was nothing short of a miracle.  In contemplating the nature of this miracle, we can imagine two scenarios.  Both of which focus on the power of words.

The first scenario argues that a miracle enabled everyone to hear and understand the words of Moses in the same way. This scenario suggests that the language and the delivery of these words were so clear that all who heard them fully understood exactly what to do.

The second scenario suggests that the miracle lay not in the clarity of the message but, rather, in its ambiguity. Here, a miracle is reflected in that fact that a single, Jewish people could evolve from diverse opinions.  This scenario suggests that the miracle was not in the moment at the mountain but rather in the passion of a people would conceptually return to that moment as a sacred reference point for all time.

The values and the knowledge we gain from Torah is the result of study, interpretation, dialogue and personal interactions with the text. The power of these ancient teaching comes from both the clarity and the ambiguity embodied in the sacred words.

As liberal Jews living in a modern world, we read the same words that our ancestors heard thousands of years ago, but like the Israelites in our story, the messages we draw from the text are not monolithic.  In fact, they are as diverse and complex as the multitudes which stood at the mountain.

The fact that we, like our ancestors, can hear the same words, draw different conclusions and still maintain a sense of peoplehood is something we should recognize as sacred and miraculous.  May this miracle of our people ever remain a reality as we – like our ancestors long ago – continue to hear the words of Torah in our own unique ways and translate them into the fabric of our lives.

L’Shalom,
​​​​​​​Steve

Rabbi on the Road – Finale

Dear Friends,

L’Shalom,
Steve