I’m working backwards, but here is what I said on Erev Rosh Hashanah. My new congregation has four pillars to its vision statement, lifelong learning, building community, embracing diversity and meaningful observance.

Rosh Hashanah Evening, 5773

Are we there yet? This is a question that children often ask on long car trips. The Israelites asked it when they were wandering in the desert. No not yet. But we will be there. Eventually.

Take a deep breath. It is Erev Rosh Hashanah. Many members of the congregation have been working tirelessly behind the scenes to make sure we get here. Stephanie and I have worked together and the sense of deep spirituality that emenated from these walls last Friday will be one of my favorite memories of the holidays. May her spirit and her voice lift all of our prayers heavenward.

We’re here—but we are not quite there yet. Let me explain what I mean. During the course of the next 10 days, in fact the next year, you will hear me talk about Congregation Kneseth Israel’s vision. It is what drew me to Elgin because it dovetails nicely with my own. In fact when I first heard about the opening at CKI for a spiritual leader I was on a mini-retreat for my birthday, writing my own vision of what I thought a rabbi should be. By the end of that evening I had filled in my application, and I am delighted to be here, to partner with CKI to make your vision, our vision a reality.

Before we can talk about vision, we need to understand something. What is this whole operation called a synagogue about. Rochelle Fosco, our president read a prayer at the beginning of the service that explains what I think a synagogue should be. A place where anyone who enters is welcomed.

Enters is the key word. The root of the word Kneseth means enters. It also means assembly of those who enter. The very name of this synagogue is important to understanding our vision. Congregation. Kneseth. Israel. The Congregation of the Assembly of Israel. This is the same word that you may know for the Parliament of Israel, the Knesset.

Long before the modern State of Israel, this word, Kneseth is one of the traditional Hebrew names of a synagogue. A Beit Knesset—a House of Assembly. A home. This was the name that explains the function of the synagogue about building community. The Israelites understood that people come to synagogue for three primary reasons, to pray, a Beit Tefilah, to study a Beit Midrash and to be with friends and family in community, a Beit Knesset. This compound word is what we use in modern Israeli Hebrew for a synagogue and a Cnesia is a church, both places we enter and assemble. Synagogues, a loaner word from Greek also meaning assembly, Batei Kneset, were formed when Judaism evolved after the destruction of the Temple from a centralized sacrificial system to one of worship, prayer and study. In early Talmudic times we learn about the men of the Great Assembly, anshei kneseth hagedola.

In fact Pirke Avot, the wisdom of our fathers, opens with this verse:

“Moses received the Torah from Sinai and transmitted it to Joshua; Joshua to the elders; the elders to the prophets; and the prophets handed it down to the men of the Great Assembly, the anshei kneseth hagedola” But the Sanhedrin, the Great Assembly did not last. It was a transitional institution, helping Judaism evolve from a period of revealed miracles and prophecy to one of hidden miracles, prayer and study.

Back in the Second Temple period before its destruction in 70CE, there were 70 different sects of Judaism. We have heard of the Pharisees, the Saducees and the Essenes. But there were as many as 70 different groups—all of whom thought that they had the right way of interpreting Torah and practicing Judaism. One in particular intrigues me—it was a sect of just women. But like the Shakers in the US, they eventually died out naturally and they did not leave written records like the Talmud.. We are taught that part of why the Temple was destroyed was because of baseless hatred, sinat chinam. This is a sin is still included in the alef bet listing of sins we will read together in the next 10 days.

In the Talmud a story is told of Rabbi Akiva that when Moses ascended Mount Sinai, he saw that G-d was putting little ‘crowns’ on the top of the letters in the Torah scroll. Moses asked G-d to explain the meaning of these taggim. G-d explained that in the future a man by the name of Akiva ben Joseph will reveal what these signs mean. Moses wanted to meet this man who knew more than he did. God told Moses to turn around. There was Akiva, teaching many students. Moses sat in the back row and listened Moses was amazed to hear Rabbi Akiva explain that the source of the law he was explaining was from our great teacher, Moses himself. Moses was relieved to hear this but wondered why God would give the Torah through him since Akiva was so knowledgable. (Menachot 29b). We are told that Akiva taught that there are seventy meanings for every letter of Torah, for every crown on those letters.
The Talmud records this kind of back and forth argument between various rabbis, and scholars, sometimes even across the generations. Every opinion was recorded. Every opinion counted. We even have a word for this style of argumentation, pilpul from the root of pepper. It was messy but it was good. It was hard, it still is hard to determine who won any given argument. That is why the codes developed. And responsa literature to answer questions that came up after the codification of the law. That process continues today.
In truth, we are that link in that chain of authority, from Moses to Joshua, from the prophets to the sages, the Men of the Great Assembly, from this generation to the next. We are keepers of the tradition and keepers of the flame and we may wonder like Moses, why us?

Judaism today may look similar to Judaism 2000 years ago. While we speak of Am Yisrael, the people Israel and Klal Yisrael, the entirety of Judaism, there are many divisions within Judaism. There are even disagreements and divisions in our own community. As someone pointed out to me, our synagogue is on Division Street. We all know the story about the Jewish man on the deserted island who had built two synagogues. When finally rescued he was asked why two. He answered so that he would have one he would never go to. At the same time we talk about the many faces of Israel and its pluralism. In this country there are four main streams of Judaism, Orthodox, Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist. There are Jewish Renewal Jews. Jews who belong to chaverut. Lox and Bagel Jews. Jews who call themselves Secular Humanists or Ethical Culturalists. Jews who come every week and Jews who come just once a year. Jews who like the history and the ethics of Judaism but who don’t, who can’t believe in G-d. Jews who are spiritual but not religious. Jews who will not go to shul ever. Still others when ask say they are just Jewish. Nora Ephron in her last book I Remember Nothing talked about exactly that. When asked what kind of Jew she was she answered, A Jew. The person persisted and wanted to know if she was a German Jew or a Russian Jew. Nora was amazed. And to hear her tell it, it was funny. But there was an edge to the story and it really isn’t so funny.

Do these distinctions matter? Even Nora asked that question. No one way is better than another. At our root we are all just Jews, part of Am Yisrael, Klal Yisrael and Kneeseth Israel. What we want to create here in this space, I hope is a non-judgmental, safe place where all who enter (remember the root) will feel comfortable and welcome, where we can explore our Judaism secure in the knowledge that we will not be judged, mocked, laughed at or bullied, that this is a congregation built on the foundation that senseless hatred, sinat chinam is the antithesis of what we desire, what God desires.

This congregation rests on that very foundation of Judaism. It was formed as an Orthodox congregation, 120 years ago by German Jews. It has had Orthodox, Reform and Conservative rabbis and cantors. It has had instrumental music and a kids choir on Friday night and then no instrumental music. It has had only hechshered Kosher cheese and then non-hechshered cheese and back to hechshered cheese. It has had different rabbis who felt strongly about one halachic position or another. All are within what I would call normative Judaism.

The question becomes, how do we represent the wide diversity that we have here. This congregation has been struggling a little with its identity. Statements and questions I have heard since my demo weekend include: If we are not affiliated with a movement, are we still Conservative? We are still Conservative but we are no longer members of the USCJ. Since we are no longer Conservative can we do x? Now we are Reform. We don’t want to be Reform, they do x, y or z.

When I looked at the focus group reports from the vision committee, it was clear to me that what members of CKI want more than anything else is that sense of community and belonging. That is great. But what distinguishes a Beit Kneseth from a country club, a service organization or another group that any of us belong to?

I think it is in the other functions—in being a Beit Midrash, a house of study and a beit tefilah, a house of prayer. We’ll talk more about those during the next few days and again in the weeks and months to come. For now let me say that is the combination of the three functions that makes this more than a Beit Kneseth, an assembly filled with passionate people who care deeply about their Judaism.

Are any of the terms today relevant? Post denominational? Trans-denominational? Non-denominational? Pluralistic? Unaffiliated? Liberal? Traditional? Conservative? Reform? Diverse? Perhaps my favorite at the moment is independent. Does it matter? Do we need just one word? No one word seems to capture all of it. How do we do any of this without offending anyone?

The High Holiday liturgy lists a series of alphabetical sins that we will recite together in the plural form. More of those sins have to do with our speech than anything else. I would say that as we continue to define ourselves, we need to be careful with our speech. It is good we are passionate and concerned deeply about our Judaism. So am I. However, in our passion, we do not need to inflame or be rude. This extends not only to meetings but also to emails and social networking. So if I have inflamed anything during this debate for that I apologize and do so publicly tonight from the bimah. Every opinion counts here at CKI and needs to be heard. All expressions of Judaism are welcome. Eventually, and soon, I hope we will build a consensus about what we call ourselves.

Today you have a new rabbi. One who was trained at the Academy for Jewish Religion in New York. If you call their office you will hear Sandy Kilstein’s voice on the recorded message warmly greeting all who call. She says, “for over fifty years AJR has been preparing rabbis and cantors to serve klal yisrael in a spiritually vibrant and inclusive way. Our students are of all ages and denominations. At AJR, we believe that all Jews are enriched by all the denominations of Judaism.” We have rabbis and cantors who serve Reform, Conservative, Reconstructionist, renewal and even Orthodox congregations. They serve unaffiliated congregations, teach in universities and day schools, serve in chaplaincy roles. Each of us was required to take a course in pluralism. Yes, that is what it was called. AJR too is evolving. This voice mail message is in the process of being rerecorded to reflect our new location in Yonkers instead of Riverdale. I will be curious to see what the new message is. I set off quite the debate online just trying to get the exact wording of the message. What we are are rabbis and cantors who believe strongly in Klal Yisrael. We believe in meeting Jews where they are.

The Talmud has a phrase, look and see what the people are doing. I am looking and we are doing it. We are actively involved in the process of being Jews. Just Jews. We are a congregation, a synagogue, a shul, a Beit Knesset that … Embraces Diversity, provides Meaningful Worship, Builds Community and offers Lifelong Learning. Come join us. Then it will be a sweet new year for all who gather here! Ken yehi ratzon.

May the door of this synagogue be wide enough
to receive all who hunger for love,
all who are lonely for fellowship.

May it welcome all who have cares to unburden,
thanks to express, hopes to nurture.

May the door of this synagogue be narrow enough
to shut out pettiness and pride, envy and enmity.

May its threshold be no stumbling block
to young or straying feet.

May it be too high to admit complacency,
selfishness, and harshness.

May this synagogue be, for all who enter,
the doorway to a richer and more meaningful life.

The New Mahzor, Prayer Book Press, 1998