Exodus 8:23: “We will go three days’ journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the LORD our God, as God commanded us.”

Happy Passover. The entire holiday is designed to get children to ask questions so that learn what this holiday is about. So I ask you, “why is this night different from all other nights? Why are we doing this? What is this about?” As we read in today’s parsha, from Exodus 12: “And you shall observe this thing as a commandment to you and to your children for all times. And it shall come to pass when you come to the land which the Lord will give you according to God’s promise, that you will keep this service. And it shall come to pass, when your children say to you, “What do you mean by this service?” that you shall say, “It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s Passover, for God passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when God smote the Egyptians and delivered our houses.” And the people bowed their heads and worshipped.”

Two examples of the people worshipping. They went out into the wilderness to sacrifice and they bowed their heads and worshipped.

This is a holiday about freedom. About not being slaves. About being free to worship God. To teach our children. To be on a journey. It is about religious freedom.

I spent much of my week being angry. Here we were on the cusp of celebrating this holiday about freedom and not one single Jewish organization seemed to be taking a stand about legislation with the name Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

I take religious freedom very seriously—and it has to be for all people in this country, not just a privileged few or those who think they are in the majority who may in fact now be in the minority.

There was an uproar this week over the signing of a piece of legislation, in Indiana, called a Religious Freedom Restoration Act. It appeared to be targeted to discriminate against the LGBT community and that alone would cause me to speak out. It has now been revised.

According to the governor of Indiana: “There will be some who think this legislation goes too far and some who think it does not go far enough, but as governor I must always put the interest of our state first and ask myself every day, ‘What is best for Indiana?’ I believe resolving this controversy and making clear that every person feels welcome and respected in our state is best for Indiana.” Is it resolved? I don’t think so.

According to the Indianapolis Star, bill would only offer anti-discrimination protections for gays and lesbians in 11 Indiana communities where such protections already exist, legal experts say. The amendment, which  Gov. Mike Pence signed Thursday, would prevent Christian bakers, florists and other similar businesses from denying services to same-sex couples who are seeking to get married. But only in communities, such as Indianapolis and Bloomington, that already have local ordinances that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, legal experts on both sides of the debate agree.”

But Indiana alone is not the problem. It is far more widespread than Indiana! There are 55 pieces of legislation in 28 states in this country, pending or passed, like the one in Indiana.

What is the problem with them? What is the problem with the Jewish community? When I got my first call about this, I went looking for a national Jewish organization that had taken a stand. I could find nothing. Individual rabbis, yes. But not a national organization. By Tuesday I had gotten three calls from congregants wanted to know my position. I never get three calls on any topic! Where was the national Jewish voice? What could I say to my congregants? As I began ranting and raving this week, one friend begged, don’t speak ill of our brethren. She wanted to make sure it passes the “is it good for the Jews or bad for the Jews.” As my rant continued, one rabbi in Israel even suggested that I would have to write my own. So here it is:

So here’s where I come out. No, not that kind of coming out. I am not gay. But I am an ally. For me I see no conflict between being gay and the Jewish tradition. We’ll come back to that, but I don’t think that is what these bills are about.

We are celebrating Passover. Yesterday the group that gathered to study shmita, release, were reminded over and over again that we were slaves in the land of Egypt, so that we have an obligation to treat the widow, the orphan, the stranger, the sojourner with compassion. As I usually add, these are the people that are the most marginalized amongst us. 36 times, more than any other Jewish law, we are told we need to take care of them and not discriminate against them. Why, precisely because we were slaves in Egypt. We knew, and unfortunately still know what it was to be discriminated against.

When we left Egypt we were a mixed multitude. Not everyone was an Israelite, and we found room for them. When the Holy Temple stood, not everyone was an Israelite. And we found room for them. There was actually a court at the Holy Temple, for the ger, the stranger, the sojourner. They worshipped with us.

There was a debate earlier in the that seemed to continue from last year, Can non-Jews have a place at the seder? Halachically sometimes Jews were forbidden from including non-Jews because then we might have to cook for them on Yom Tov. But then there is this little clause about welcoming the community’s dignitaries because it is good for peace. Even Chabad goes with this second reading. I am glad we had non-Jews, as we have always done, at our seder last night—and we will again tonight at CKI.

Yesterday I sold the synagogue’s chamatz, and 10 of our synagogue families as well to the Rev. Don Frye, an openly gay Episcopal priest. This relationship and the execution of this kind of contract is good for me personally as I have developed a deep friendship with Don, good for CKI, good for interfaith relationships, good for the world as it brings peace. And while we sat there signing, we talked a little about these bills. The national Episcopal church has also not taken a stand, believing that since they sanction gay marriages and ordain gay priests they have addressed it.

So are these bills good for the Jews or bad for the Jews, these 55 pieces of legislation? I believe ultimately they are bad for the Jews. Why? Because while they are designed to protect some people’s religious freedom, they are not designed to protect all. They are not designed to protect mine—or I fear yours. So as your rabbi I have an obligation to speak up.

This country was founded on the premise of religious freedom. The Puritans came to this land in order to worship as they saw fit. The other hand they then turned around oppressed other. Even their own children had to establish their own community, Duxbury with its own church part of a half-way covenant because they did not have the same religious zeal as their parents. Anne Hutchinson and Roger Williams were expelled from Massachusetts for not having the right beliefs. Later, the US Constitution was enacted party to guarantee our right to worship in freedom. Two clauses in the First Amendment guarantee freedom of religion. The establishment clause prohibits the government from passing legislation to establish an official religion or preferring one religion over another. It enforces the “separation of church and state.” But it is complicated, and even here in Elgin, I worry when the U46 school district has a clergy council, or the 16th Circuit Court has a faith committee on domestic violence. I serve on both, even chair the court committee but I wonder about separation of church and state issues. The difference is neither is legislated. And they are both represented by a broad base of the religious traditions in Elgin and Kane County.

So this is what I say to you:

If you are part of the LGBT community and you are here, I welcome you. Later this month we will read the troubling verse from Leviticus. And the reason it is troubling is not its seeming prohibition against homosexuality as one of the sexual immoral acts, but because more than likely it has been mistranslated for thousands of years. Every translation is a commentary and this verse is no exception. We will explore that topic more fully later this month.

You own a business or a store and you don’t want to be open on Sunday. Don’t. Hobby Lobby and Chik-fila already are not. Neither is Blue Box Café. That is their choice based on their religious preference. You don’t want to work on Saturday because it is Shabbat and it is your day of rest? Terrific. I applaud you. And I am glad you are here and chosen to spend your morning with us. But we don’t need to return to the blue laws of my youth—not the ones in Chicago, (really I can’t buy a car on Sunday in Illinois, still? Or liquor before 8AM?) Grand Rapids, where we couldn’t mow a lawn on Sunday or buy liquor, or Boston which had the strongest blue laws in the country, reflective of our Pilgrim heritage. Do I think people deserve to take a day off of work—you bet. That is what Shabbat is. Do I want your right protected to do so—whichever day you choose? Absolutely, Shabbat, a sign of the covenant between God and the children of Israel, our gift to the world, is part of what being free is about.

You want to wear your kippah in a grocery store? Great. I don’t want you to be afraid to do so. You shouldn’t need to cover it with a baseball cap as many have done. Or be compelled to remove it since in this country we have the custom or removing hats as a sign of respect.

You want to be able to purchase birth control or have an abortion? I want that for you too, and these laws put both of those at further jeopardy. Birth control and abortions are protected choices under normative Jewish law. There is a fundamental difference in understanding between Judaism and Christianity about when life begins, and so these bills are bad for us if it limits our access to birth control or abortion.

By the end of the week, the organizations I expected to see at the beginning of the week had made statements. The Central Conference of American Rabbis strongly reiterated their position taken in October. http://ccarnet.org/ccar-statement-misusing-religious-freedom-justify-discrimination/?preview The Religious Action Center published this: http://feeds.rac.org/~r/racblog/~3/zGdey3TLkt0/ They have made statements about North Carolina, Georgia and Arkansas as well. Perhaps the most important pressure has come from the business community. As a businesswoman who has had Apple and Salesforce as clients, thank God, for Tim Cook, CEO of Apple who spoke out passionately as a Baptist in a Wall Street Journal editorial. WalMart, Acxion, Yelp, PayPal and Angie’s List have all joined their voices. So has the State of Connecticut and the University of Connecticut Basketball coaches who promised to not travel to Indiana.

Perhaps the most powerful words came from Rabbi Josh Heller in Georgia. Speaking at the State House, he said, “I admit I am an unlikely speaker here today. There are others amongst my colleagues standing here who have established themselves as advocates on issues of concern to many joined here today. And I will admit that I have not done so. I was ordained in a denomination within Judaism that is still wrestling with those issues. I serve a congregation that is among the five largest in Georgia, of any denomination, and among those five we are among the most traditional. And yet, I have chosen to come and stand before and with you today, because I see a wrong being contemplated. I see a wrong being contemplated in the name of God, in the name of people of faith, and I cannot be silent and let that wrong come to pass. Not in my name, not in our name, and not in God’s name. I stand here today, knowing that there are voices in our Jewish tradition and our community that debate, sometimes stridently, questions of gender and sexuality, questions that begin in Leviticus – and I’ve read those passages of Leviticus. But I have also read Leviticus 19:18, that says, ‘V’ahavta l’reacha camocha’ – ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ And I’ve read Leviticus 25:17: ‘Lo tonu ish et amito’ – ‘Do not oppress your neighbor.’ And I can be no less serious about those verses than any other in the Scripture that I hold dear. And so when I see someone citing Judaism, citing the holy Torah, to exclude people from our larger society, to impede human beings trying to live in dignity, I must say: Not in my name, not in our name, not in God’s name.”

This became his refrain. Not in my name, not in our name, not in God’s name. The full text of his remarks were picked up by Sojourners http://www.sojourngsd.org/blog/heller and AJC.

 

Keshet, the organization dedicated to inclusion of everyone, especially the LGBT community, had a lighthearted approach that made me smile. Passover is best when ALL our peeps are included!

We as Jews are not alone in opposition. We have been joined by the United Church of Christ, the Episcopal Church, the Islamic Society of North America and others. These words of the Rev.Tim McDonald, senior pastor of the First Iconium Baptist Church:

“I am a person of faith. And I take my faith very seriously. And that’s why I cannot turn over my faith to people who in the past have thought it was all right to discriminate against African-Americans, people who in the past thought it was all right to support slavery in America, people who in the past thought it was all right to support Jim Crow and segregation-America. Some of those same people are the ones who are behind Senate Bill 129.”

Later tonight at our seder we will read the words of the Rev. Martin Niemoller,

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

In a year that has seen me go to Ferguson to fight discrimination, where Simon went to Selma to commemorate the 50^th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday. When we have hosted the 2^nd Baptist Choir and participated in Martin Luther King jr events as a congregation. When we have worried about the rising tide of anti-semitism—in Europe, in the Middle East and even in places like Overland Park, Lombard and the North Shore, then we need to add our voice here.

When I think about Esther and how she found the courage to speak out. When I read the texts of the Psalm of Dedication of the Temple, “what profit is there if I am silenced? What benefit if I go to my grave?”

And that’s where I come out. I come out needing to speak strongly—maybe more strongly on this than any other issue I have ever advocated for. Precisely because it is Passover. Precisely because Passover is about religious freedom—all religious freedom and protecting the rights of the widow, the orphan and the stranger. Protecting all of us.