-- May 30, 2007
It’s Wednesday
Rabbi Greg Harris
Beth El’s first Mitzvah May has been a success!
We should remember three things about Tikkun Olam:
1) Tikkun Olam will be accomplished through “baby steps” rather than a “giant leap for mankind.” For example, individually we can not end world hunger but we can feed those in need in our own community.
2) We must recognize our responsibility for tikkun daily
3) Be confident that our cumulative efforts will transform the world.
There are so many different ways that we do tikkun. Some people assist at a Jewish domestic violence hotline while others are part of a Community Supported Agriculture collective. Large acts and small, recognized and quietly accomplished, all of our actions make a difference. I am reminded of a story from Martin Buber’s book, "The Way of Man."
Rabbi Baer of Radoshitz once said to his teacher, the ‘Seer’ of Lublin: ‘Show me ONE general way to the service of God.’ The zaddik replied: ‘It is impossible to tell men what way they should take. For one way to serve God is through learning, another through prayer, another through fasting, and still another through eating. Everyone should carefully observe what way his heart draws him to, and then choose this way with all his strength.’
A lesson I take from this story is that we must each find our own way to do tikkun olam and dedicate ourselves to it. We will be most effective and our involvement sustained over a longer period when our acts are drawn from our own passions. As Jews, we have a responsibility to help repair the world.
This Shabbat we are going to recognize two people who have quietly inspired acts of tikkun over many years as we thank Janice Liebowitz and Bert King with the first annual Beth El Tikkun Olam Award. Please come this Shabbat (June 2) to honor Janice and Bert and to conclude Mitzvah May.
While this is the final It’s Wednesday e-column for Mitzvah May and until Rabbi Rudolph returns from his sabbatical, I hope you will take each Wednesday during the summer to ask how you are going to add Judaism to your day. That is the ultimate purpose of these emails. Now, the charge is yours for the summer. We’ll be writing again in the Fall.
Have a safe and rejuvenating summer.
-- May 22, 2007
It’s Wednesday (a day early)
Rabbi Greg Harris
I am sending this column out a day early because tonight begins Shavuot, the celebration of receiving Revelation at Mt. Sinai. With accounts of fire and lightning at the mountain top and Cecil B DeMille forever giving us a visual experience of Mt. Sinai, I have long felt that revelation was a distant experience. The close connection between people and God seemed quaint.
I have grown to believe that God’s revelation can be powerfully felt today. Revelation doesn’t happen today as it did on Mt. Sinai. I feel it the most in moments of connection between people. I intuitively understand that there is a different quality of encounter between me and a sales clerk. It is a utilitarian interaction. There is a wholly different encounter between two lovers. The intensity, openness, vulnerability, and potential of the encounter is unique. Martin Buber calls this encounter I and Thou. It is a connection that transcends rote interactions. It is in these intense encounters that God is revealed. Revelation is relational – God can be felt within the encounters of people.
The more we do to strengthen these encounters and improve the quality of our interactions with each other, the more we open a pathway for God to be felt. Recognizing each other as more than just utilitarian service providers (cashiers, sales clerks, doctors, or lawyers) is one way to do this. When you ask, “How are you?” – mean it. While often this might only be aspirational in our busy lives, it can be a meaningful step in revealing God’s presence today. Additionally, caring for each other is a deep act of tikkun.
The choice is ours for how we encounter each other. Mitzvah May has been encouraging us to rise to a heightened sensitivity by reaching out to others. The decision to act is yours. Buber published a collection of Hasidic tales in a book called Ten Rungs. One tale says,
“No limits are set to the ascent of man, and to each and everyone the highest stands open. Here it is only your personal choice that decides.”
On Shavuot, let’s reach for the highest point. That is where Moses encountered God and that is how we might as well.
-- May 16, 2007
It’s Wednesday – Tikkun for Jerusalem
Rabbi Greg Harris
This is a story as we continue to highlight and reflect on Tikkun Olam at Beth El. Midas the peasant and his father Gordias rode into town on their ox-cart. Everyone began to cheer them. This was the fulfillment of the oracle – the next man to ride into town in a cart would become king. As a tribute, Midas dedicated his cart to the gods and tied the cart to the temple. He made a special knot which was so intricate with its weaves and interlacing that it could not be untied. It was said that whoever untied the knot would become the ruler of all Asia Minor. In 333 BCE, Alexander the Great tried to untie the knot. So frustrated with being unable to find a solution and so determined to rule the known world, he drew his sword and sliced the Gordian Knot in two. Alexander the Great went on to rule Asia Minor… as the prophecy said.
Today is Yom Yerushalayim (Jerusalem Day) the day that celebrates the reunification of Jerusalem in 1967. My connections to Israel’s capital city are intertwined like the Gordian Knot. I am so tied to Jerusalem that it is impossible to untangle the connections of spiritual, emotional, self-identity, peoplehood, ritual, and cultural connections. I love to love Jerusalem and am pained by the hurt that swirls around it. Jerusalem contorts my emotions, twining disappointment and pride, openness and myopic preservation. It is a city of ancient problems and modern miracles. It is my most beloved city; it is a city in need of tikkun. Jerusalem is a city in need of tikkun.
Here are two ways to offer tikkun for Jerusalem:
1) Pray – Take a moment today to pray for peace and tikkun for Jerusalem. Use the words of a prayer book or the words from your heart but have Jerusalem in your thoughts today.
2) Easy Tikkun Project – I discovered Birthday Angels through Danny Siegel’s ZIV Foundation. For $36, an Israeli child in poverty can celebrate a birthday party and feel the joy of this special day. In lieu of a gift here, donate a party in Israel. Go to www.birthday-angels.org for more information.
I am confident that through acts of avodah (prayer) and gemilut hasidim (acts of kindness), we can bring about tikkun. Come to synagogue and get your Mitzvah Badge.
“If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.” Psalm 137