September 9, 2010 | 1 Tishrei 5771

My mother, of blessed memory, was my biggest fan. To Mom, I was the world’s best rabbi. She often complemented me. But there’s one complement my mother never gave me – She never said, “Neil, you’re a prophet!” Well, Mom, I am a prophet, and I learned it only months ago.

No, I’m not a prophet in the popular sense of predicting the future, but rather in the sense of sharing a timely message about God’s world. I did so last Rosh Hashana when I spoke to you about the preservation of our natural resources.

April 2010 – an explosion occurs in the Gulf of Mexico and several million barrels of oil are dumped into the Gulf over the course of three months. We know what that looked like. We still don’t know its long-term effects.

Yes, my words last Rosh Hashana were prophetic, weren’t they? If I boast a bit, I do so in jest. I’m only trying to get your attention! And yet, just like last year, my message this Rosh Hashana concerns how personal actions can lead to collective renewal. I pray that my message will prove to be just as prophetic as the one I shared with you last year.

All of us desire to be financially secure. We also want to master time in order to do everything we wish to do. Recently Peggy Orenstein, whose columns appear in the The New York Times Sunday Magazine, took a second look at those values. Incidentally, Peggy, like me, grew up in Minneapolis at the Adath Jeshurun Synagogue.

In her column, Peggy reflects on her meeting with Shannon Hayes, an author who urges people to simplify their lives:

I rushed to pick up my daughter from school. As I rustled up a quick dinner of whole-wheat quesadillas and frozen organic peas, I found my thoughts drifting back to our conversation, to the questions (Shannon) raised about the nature of success, satisfaction, sustenance, fulfillment, community. What constitutes “enough”?  What is my obligation to others?  What do I want for my child? Is my home the engine of materialism or a refuge from it?

Peggy Orenstein’s questions ought to become our questions. Essentially Peggy places two questions before each of us: 1) What should really matter to me? 2) What values do I want to convey to others and to future generations?

Last year, I provided you with one answer when I spoke about developing greater concern for our environment. Today I want to suggest a second answer that speaks to the kind of community we seek to create here in our own congregation…a sacred community, a kehillah kedoshah.

As you help us to create that congregational community, I assure you that Ahavath Achim will not be the only beneficiary; you will also benefit. For no matter how much you obtain and no matter how wisely you use time, you know that the satisfaction you derive tends to be superficial and fleeting.

You get something you want…and you see something else that appeals to you. You successfully check off that last item on your To-Do List…and the next day brings a new list. As a human being you desire to be part of something that matters, something that is more profound than your every day activities; something that is lasting.

It is those activities and efforts you hope that will indelibly imprint your name in God’s Book of Remembrance.
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Five years ago in a Rosh Hashanah sermon I spoke of our need to create a community that truly reflects our congregation’s name as it appears on the Peachtree Battle side of our building. “Kehillah Kedoshah Ahavath Achim.” “Ahavath Achim…A sacred community.” I spoke at some length about what that could mean for our congregation.

Five years ago I don’t think my words resonated. I know they didn’t lead to action. In retrospect, I realize we weren’t ready to strive in the directions I suggested. But now I believe we are ready.

Look at the recent changes to our building and grounds. They are beautiful; they reflect a healthy concern for our appearance; they speak of growing institutional pride. Look at our array of worship alternatives and our excellent educational programs for all ages, and you must recognize a congregation that is renewing itself. Look at our membership that is again increasing in number, and you will recognize outside validation for what we are doing. And most importantly, I am hearing a congregational leadership say, “Yes, we truly want to be a sacred community.” The warmth and welcome you feel here in the synagogue itself is a starting point.

Now it is time to turn our efforts to a realm I call “chesed.” “Chesed” is really shorthand for the mitzvah of “gemilut chasadim,” “acts of kindness.” Specifically, when I refer to “chesed,” I mean to refer to the important ways we can help our congregants in times of need. As we engage in those activities, we do much more than help someone.

Obviously we feel good about what we are doing. We provide a counterbalance to a life that is overly weighted toward having and accomplishing. We remind ourselves of our unique human power to do good.

What will it mean to have a growing core of congregants doing acts of chesed? It will transform our congregation. Imagine how congregants will feel about a congregation they know will help them and their friends at a time of need! Imagine what the perception of such a congregation will be in our community!

Most important, acts of chesed are not just nice things to do. They represent the fulfillment of a mitzvah. As we do them, we hear echoes of the divine; we recognize that God is present.

So what might a significant chesed program in our congregation look like? I envision several components. Together they comprise the ideal. But each element will also make a substantial difference to you and in our congregation.

First, the mitzvah of visiting the infirm, bikkur cholim. We ought to train a cadre of volunteers to augment our clergy visits and follow up with people when they have returned home. We must respect individuals’ desire for privacy, but we must project that our congregation cares. With some preparatory help, can you see yourself becoming a bikkur cholim volunteer?  I hope so.

Second, we ought to forge a stronger connection with members of our congregation who no longer drive or who are housebound. With dedicated volunteers, we can provide transportation to our services and programs. Can you help in that way? Technology can also help us to effectively enter people’s homes with religious services and educational programs. We ought to investigate usage of this technology.

Third, meals.  Following a birth or a death or at another time of acute need, imagine what it would mean to people if we could supplement the efforts of family and friends and provide them with meals for several days! Could you help in this area?

Finally, our chesed program should include an economic component.

After soliciting our membership for its participation in this program, we should seek to facilitate reduced fees or even pro-bono services for congregants. For example, perhaps an accountant, a lawyer or business person could offer service to congregants who have bonafide financial difficulties. Imagine what that would mean to those people and to their relationship with our congregation! Is this an area in which you could be helpful?

It is my pleasure to tell you that Donna Newman and Sylvia Friedman will co–chair our Chesed Committee and will facilitate how we best move forward. I deeply appreciate their commitment.

Taken together these efforts will move us ever closer toward becoming the sacred community we wish to be. Isn’t that a community to which you want to belong? Isn’t that a community that you want to nurture and support?

Still, as important as such chesed activity sounds, it’s easier to continue to live as we have been living and not get involved in these activities. Why should you get involved? Why should you make chesed activity part of your life? Because it will make you feel good that you are making a difference. Because over time it will transform our congregation and lead us toward becoming the kehillah kedoshah we seek to be.

Finally, by offering acts of chesed, we will give expression to the divine in each of us and manifest God’s presence in the world.

In the Book of Deuteronomy, we are told to “cleave to God” (10:12) and to “walk in God’s ways” (11:22). In the Talmud and elsewhere in rabbinic literature, the rabbis elaborate on how those two phrases are to find expression in our lives.

“Just as God clothes the naked (as God did with Adam), so you clothe the naked; just as the Lord visits the sick (as God did with Abraham), so you visit the sick.”  (Sotah 14a). “Just as God is gracious and compassionate, so you be gracious and compassionate” (Mechilta, Cant…3)

As we mirror God’s actions and engage in acts of chesed in support of congregants we will add meaning to our own lives and help our congregation move ever closer toward fully becoming a sacred community, a kehillah kedoshah.

May we embrace God’s ways.

Amen.