Clergy Sermons

Rosh Hashana 5785 –The Need for Peoplehood

This traumatic impact of this year is real and ongoing: war, loss, antisemitism, allies disappearing, deepening polarization, our children feeling unsafe. Our worldviews have been upended.  There is so much stirring – yet one truth towers above everything.  We are a people – Am Yisrael.  Since October 7, that connection to peoplehood and how much we need each other is crystal clear.

Amanda Gorman’s poem, The Hill We Climb, captures this sentiment and rings in my heart:

Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true.

That even as we grieved, we grew.

That even as we hurt, we hoped.

That even as we tired, we tried.

That we’ll forever be tied together…. 

The last line of the stanza captures the essence of my Jewish faith - That we’ll forever be tied together.

Forever tied together. There is a line in our High Holiday prayer book that captures this belief: Va’ya’asu kulam agudah achat – all of you will make a single bundle. We are one bundle – bound together.

Am Echad im Lev Echad. One people. One heart - connected by shared fate, values, history and vision. This year the power of peoplehood sustained us. Yet, amidst this intense sense of connection, unity has fallen apart so quickly. October 7^th was a brutal, barbaric attack against our people.  Harsh criticism commenced on October 8.  Intense disagreements paralyzing and polarization the Jewish community. Agudah achat – a guiding principle of connectedness calls on us to find unity amidst division because we need each other and are inextricably bound together. Envision the agudah – a bundle of sticks tied together. Each stick individually is easy to break – but when you combine them - we are strong.  The whole is greater than the sum of our parts. Pay attention to the verb in the sentence: V’ya’asu – to do or make.  Our job is to make the bundle.

Why?  When we are an agudah, we are part of something bigger. We notice what is in our hearts and share it with one another – this brings strength and comfort.  I needed a place for my pain this year – I found it in community.  Grieving together yields comfort.

It is more than sharing pain – it is sharing meaning and purpose.  The agudah we are part of provides values, faith, ritual and vision that sustain us. I needed Judaism’s wisdom to make it through this year. It spoke to my soul, and I watched how it touched you. Since October 7, being part of an agudah kindled sparks in many directions: more people are coming to synagogue - connecting to something deep inside of them, many are consciously expressing their Jewish identities – wearing that Star of David or a ribbon for remembering hostages and choosing to educate their children. At the same time, some hearts are pulling away – legitimately afraid – hiding symbols of identity or avoiding places where the hate feels palpable.  Even if you are fearful about displaying identity, invest in the power of connection and community. Know that agudah does not mean conformity.  We are a bundle of individual sticks, with room for each of us – that is what makes the agudah strong.

Being part of agudah links us across space and time.  We are connected to Jews all around the world.  Our connections have deep roots in biblical and family history. We inherit the legacy of God calling our patriarchs and matriarchs to live as part of a people and walk in their footsteps. The past becomes present – we too left Egypt. We too, stand at Sinai. Our past shapes our present. Peoplehood defines our religions behavior.  We pray in a minyan. We mark moments in life together.  If you ever want to see to the power of community come to a Bar/Bat Mitzvah here.  To watch our children come of age by entering community as they lead us in prayer and teach us is incredible.  Community changes us. I needed community when my mom died this summer. You all held me up and my mother’s spirit lives through the stories shared that stay in hearts.  Judaism has always been and continues to be all about the collective – there is strength in the agudah.

  Sometimes it takes suffering to open our eyes to our connections. We are called upon to feel each other’ pain. Then we act. Va’ya’asu -do/make – let’s respond to our people’s pain. We have done that this year and it brings us strength.  And we know there is so much more to do.  Here at CBJ, when the Redwood City council considered a resolution couched in language we embrace like cease-fire, justice, care for suffering – but which really became platforms for hatred and dismissing unimaginable atrocities against our people - we showed up and spoke out.  We built relationships necessary for power and in Redwood City the resolution was rejected. Yet this was not the outcome in many other places. Our work is just beginning. When schools and workplaces became sources of antisemitism, we responded. Sadly, antisemitism is real and growing – just beneath the surface - it has erupted with a vengeance. There is so much more to do in so many areas. Let’s find our place of action.

Va’ya’asu – let’s act to protect our children from the plague of antisemitism. Who could imagine it would get so bad, so quickly in our schools? But it has. Let’s be there for them. We say to our children, “We see you.  We are here to support you. We understand that you are growing up in a different world than we did. It is not easy or safe to be a Jew these days. We will advocate, act, and listen – school by school, district by district, state by state and nationally. We will not be silent.”

Va’ya’asu – let’s give our children an excellent education so that they know who they are and what it means to be part of the agudah – how it gives strength and purpose. Our friend at the OFJCC in Palo Alto, Zack Bodner writes that now is a time of reckoning among American Jews because we have not succeeded in instilling deep pride in our children’s connection to our people.  He’s right.  Even wonderful supplemental schools like the one at CBJ and our day schools - every institution that educates needs to be asking difficult questions: Are we ensuring that our students know history, values and responsibilities to one another? Do they feel that sense of agudah achat? Let’s be sure our children feel pride in being Jewish.  

Va’ya’asu – let’s deepen our own knowledge. Peoplehood without knowledge cannot stand. There is an illiteracy in American Judaism that is real.  When we know who we are – we are equipped to navigate that which life throws at us. Sacred text, ritual, faith, spiritual practices sustain our souls. When you study history – you feel its lessons. We remember that antisemitism festers, persists and takes different forms at different times – and that we have survived difficult times. Perspective is comforting.  Studying Jewish values and Mitzvot drives activism and informs choices.  Commit to making it a priority to more deeply know who you are.

Va’ya’asu – let’s allow our sense of peoplehood to deepen our connection to Israel.  This is not blanket support for the Israeli government or actions. Of course, we will disagree about Israeli policies – protesting and advocating – our voices matter. But as much as we may disagree with Israeli government policies, we must never lose our connection with the Israel and the Israeli people.

Israel is the place of our people. Judaism weaves into the rhythm of daily life – holidays, literature, land, history, connections.  Israelis understand that. They live it every day and remind us what it means to be agudah achat. Soldiers who may have been at protests on October 6, answered the call to serve with a resounding Hineni – Here I am – because of their connection with our people.  When our hearts our attuned to the people of Israel, we see and feel things the headlines overlook.  We are witnessing a new generation of Israelis step forward.  Effie Shoham, a key leader of the Jerusalem home front efforts, has three sons fighting al year in Gaza.  He used the phrase “a generation of giants” to describe his children’s generation.  Young people have devoted themselves to caring in every way possible – from childcare for displaced children to rebuilding destroyed homes. Feel pride. Feel pain at tragic losses. As the 180 missiles from Iran approached Israel on Tuesday, we felt the anxiety and breathed a sigh of relief that all that went into protecting the country mostly succeeded. Yet what if one made it through? The precious lives lost in a terror attack in Jaffa grieved us – among the victims was a young mother died protecting her baby.  8 soldiers lost in Lebanon yesterday. When you are connected to our people, you weep at the pain of Israelis. Children too young to die. Families devastated by loss. Anxiety over hostages. The pain is so real and at times overwhelming.  And together with pain and anxiety, we are moved by resilience, heart and determination. Let’s stay connected with Israel as agudah achat – part of the bundle that connects us. Think about what that means to you.

I worry about the widening gaps within the Jewish community. So many do not feel a sense of agudah achat.  I worry we won’t be able to stay together and believe with all my heart that we must. And that requires all of us. This requires a humility that too often is lost when anger and fear take over.  Let’s gently begin to walk into this reality.

There are many pieces to this – let me name one so we wrestle with it.  Many in our community feel that those who seek to understand and defend Israel are ignoring the human tragedy of the Palestinians. And others feel that those saying that are naïve as to the history of hatred that will not cease, the reality of dangerous Iranian involvement which underlie the attacks and continues to manifest via proxies throughout the region. Many of us agree with both of those statements and have our own ideas about how to navigate realities. All of this results in intense divisions, exacerbated by the fact that this has played out between generations and amongst friends.   

Here are questions reflecting how this plays out and some personal reflections as we struggle with staying connected:

1. How can we stand next to people calling for the destruction of Israel – or worse don’t understand that their words and alliances support calls for Israel’s destruction?  I feel we can’t - and it drives my activism.  I believe that a piece of our current reality is Iran and its proxies stated and demonstrated mission to destroy Israel and Jews This is clear danger to which we must respond. To see those who overlook or ignore this truth is painful.  How do I deal with the person who does not understand this?

2. How can we turn a blind eye to Palestinian suffering and settler violence? I feel we can’t! And that too drives my activism.  It is not a zero sum game.

How do I deal with those who overlook what I consider fundamental. I teach. I talk. I persist.

As difficult as it is to stay connection, I believe we must try and that this task is daunting. How can I stay connected if I feel a particular point of view will do terrible harm – legitimize and ignore evil? There are indeed times we cannot and should not engage. We need lines, especially as an institution. To the person or group whose words and actions deepen hate and antisemitism – it is impossible to stay connected.

But let’s be careful not to paint with a broad brush – lifting up the distinction between policy as an institution and connection as an individual. If possible, strive for conversations. Often, these are our friends and our family, our children.  Even if you can’t talk stay connected. Love. Keep talking. And if a door opens, listen with curiosity. Seek to understand. Ask questions. Explore common values. In both questions I posed, a gentle conversation exploring common values might allow connection to continue. Hold onto respect even in the face of annoyance, frustration, anger. I had a difficult conversation with a young person who felt those in the tents protesting Israel were pursuing justice.  It was hard to hear and part of me wanted to angrily scold.  But I listened. I explored the values that drove the opinion and pointed out where we agreed on sacred values, asking if I could share how I understood those values in light of all that is going on.  Of course, neither of us convinced the other or changed the other’s opinion.  But we made each other think.  We stayed connected.  She knows how much I care about her and was willing to listen.

I am calling for perseverance and resisting the urge to break connection if at all possible.  At times, it is not – especially when we are demeaned and dismissed. We can’t do anything there. The story I told involved listening and when people see you are evil other at scream, demean, insult and disparage you – an open heart saying “Let’s talk” achieves nothing. But if we hang in there with each other, in some cases it bears fruit. And we must strive to respond to the breaking up of community we are witnessing seeking ways to stay connected.  These are our children and our dear friends.     

 The consequences of dividing are profound. When we stop talking to each other, disaster happens. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks reminds us that when we stopped talking and began vilifying, we suffered as a people.  Joseph’s brothers refused to talk to him – and the result was he was sold into slavery – the beginning of our enslavement. Both Temples were destroyed because we angrily vilified one another. There is a deep truth to Lincoln’s famous quote that “A house divided against itself, cannot stand.” Staying connected is hard and crucial work. Va’ya’asu kulam agudah achat – all of you will make a single bundle. 

Let’s revisit Amanda Gorman’s poem as a prayer: 

Let us grow in our love and connection with one another.  

Help us hold hope through the actions we take.

Allow us to change despair into hope through the power of connection and rediscover that we’ll forever be tied together. Agudah Achat.

Shana Tovah.