In a little while you will hear a haunting prayer, Hineini. Hineini, Here am I. Hineini, Here I am, the words that Abraham utters to G-d.

Hiney…Ma Tov…How good and pleasant it is for people to dwell together. Hiney. Behold. Here.

Hineini only appears 8 times in the Bible, the three of them come is in the Rosh Hashanah’s readings. When G-d calls to Abraham, he answers, “Hineini, Here am I.” Abraham is ready, fully present, to answer G-d’s calls, ready to do G-d’s will. Prepared. Later in this terrifying portion, Isaac calls out to his father and again Abraham answers, “Hineini, b’ni, Here am I, my son.” And just as Abraham is about to slit his own son’s throat, an angel calls out, “Abraham, Abraham”, and again Abraham responds, “Hineini.”

Each time Hineini appears, it marks a pivotal moment in the action. Behold. Here. Right now. Pay attention. This is important.

When Jacob tricks his blind father out of Esau’s rightful blessing, nonetheless, Isaac responds with “Hineini”. When Jacob falls asleep on the road and G-d calls out in a dream, “Jacob, Jacob” and Jacob answers Hineini . Jacob calls out to Joseph and Joseph answers Hineni. The cycle seems to have come full circle.. And when G-d calls to Moses from the burning bush, “Moses, Moses,” Moses recognizes he is standing on holy ground, takes off his sandals, and answers Hineini.

We know that there are no extra words in the Torah, so why does G-d call out “Abraham, Abraham”, or “Moses, Moses”? Why the double name? Erica Brown, a Jewish philosophy professor teaches, the Torah invites us to invite. If you, as the leader want to get someone to do something, you have to ask. If you don’t ask, you don’t get. And G-d is the ultimate leader. It’s also who you ask and how. When you recruit someone to a task, you want to use his or her name to make the argument for uniqueness. It is no coincidence that in several call texts, God or an angel doubles the name: Abraham, Abraham. Moses, Moses, Samuel, Samuel – as if to say, it’s you and only you. And the call needs to be specific to a task so that when the magic word Hineni is said, it is said with full recognition of the momentousness and consequences of what lies ahead. And a call has to be just that: a call. It’s the singling out of someone for something special, a selection. It’s the power of invitation.”

http://www.ericabrown.com/new-blog-1/2015/12/24/the-hineni-moment

Each of you has a calling. A place where your great joy meets the world’s great need., as Frederick Buechner teaches. Each of you has a task that only you can fulfill.

There is one thing that stands out in these episodes to me. Each carries with it a sense of humility on the part of each of our Biblical characters, our leaders. Humility is such an important quality in a leader. Every week I am reminded of that when I stand before you and G-d. “Da lifney mi atah omaid. Know before whom you stand.” Who am I to possibly stand before you? Or before G-d! It keeps me humble.

As we explored yesterday, there are many styles of leadership. If I had to classify mine, I would call it collaborative. I work best as part of team. I know that I don’t know everything and that together we are better. You are all on my team. Perhaps the best book I read this year was Lifelong Kindergarten, which asserts that people learn best when they are encouraged to play, with peers and passion and projects. When they are working together. Not in a more typical top down hierarchical classroom. Because of a JUF symposium on the Changing Paradigm of Jewish Education, and the gift of that very book, we are demonstrating leadership here at CKI by changing our model of Hebrew learning. We are piloting nationally our coaching program and it is off to a good start. We are leading the way and meeting families and individual students with their unique learning styles, where they are.

Another collaborative leader that I greatly admire you will hear from shortly, CEO Tony Sanders of the U-46 School System. I’ll let him tell you what his leadership style is.

Contrast our word of response Hineni, Here am I with when G-d calls out to Adam and Eve, Ayekcha, Where are you…?

There is no response. Nothing. Oh sure, G-d knows where they are…so this is not a question about where are they physically. The question is really about where are they spiritually, emotionally, morally. Adam and Eve seem too ashamed to answer.

G-d is calling to each of us. Ayecha? Where are you? What is G-d calling us to do? To be where?

That is the question of this High Holy Day period. Ayecha? Where are you? Where are you going? Perhaps you will hear the echo of that question when you are stopped at a stoplight. Where are you? Where are you going? It is not about where are you physically present. It is not about going left or right or straight ahead. It is not about going to the grocery store or the movies or to pick up the kids. It is more of an existential question. I am not only here. But I’m here. Spiritually, I’m all in. I’m prepared to reflect on who I am, what’s important to me and what changes I am prepared to make for myself and others.

Where are you? Spiritually, emotionally, morally?

Where do you want to be in your life? Where do you want to be with your family? Your friends? Your community? Your work? How do you answer Hineini with your lives?

Shanah means both year and change in Hebrew. What change do you want to make this year?

Answering Hineini is about being fully present. Saying I am here. I am here, ready to serve.

Wait…I have to answer this call…now where is that phone. Maybe I left it in the kitchen. (Risa got up to find it, illustrating the point!)

Actually, there is no incoming call for me. But there is an issue. So many of us multi-task so much of the day, that perhaps we will miss the burning bush. Or maybe we will even be so busy uploading the picture of that burning bush to Facebook or Instagram or Pinterest we won’t hear the call. Or maybe we will be waiting for the phone to ring or the text message to come that we miss what our partner says at dinner. Ayeka? Where are you? Glued to our electronic devices. This may be the opposite of humility. It maybe hubris to think that whatever that incoming phone call or Facebook message is more important than what you were doing. Unless you are a doctor or one of our police officers, it can probably wait. And should.

Shortly we will hear the prayer, Hinini. It is essentially the same word. The cantor begins, “Hinini, Here am I, pleading on behalf of G-d’s people. Here I am, impoverished in deeds and merit. But nevertheless I have come before You, God, to plead on behalf of Your people Israel.”

Humble. And while it is in the singular, it is for all of us. The cantor does not pray for us, but with us. We don’t need an intermediary in Judaism. The cantor walks slowly from the back, passing through the congregation. It symbolizes that the congregation has sent the cantor, the cantor is the shaliach tzibbur, the messenger of the congregation. But the the congregation reads along with the cantor. It’s all of us!

In fact, while in some places this becomes the pinnacle moment in the cantor’s year, the Hineini prayer is just an expansion, a grand, dramatic expression, of a prayer we have already done—that it is at the beginning of every Amidah, “Adonai Sifitai Tiftach ufi yagid tehilatecha. O Lord, open up my lips that my mouth may declare Your praise.” And at the conclusion of the Amidah, we recite, “Yehiyu l’ratzon imre fe, May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable to You, my Rock and my Redeemer.”

The hardest word to say in this prayer might be the very first one. Hinini. Here am I. Am I worthy enough to say it? Am I really, really here, ready to serve or am I just “phoning it in” as they say in the theater world? And how dare I put myself into the same category as Abraham and Moses? It seems the opposite of humble.

Rabbi Mishael Zion points out that there are at least three personal qualities addressed in Hineni: The first is an awareness of our own abilities. There are times when we are called on to serve, when our skills or insights are urgently needed. At such times, he says, we must own our own strengths and step up to the plate, “Hineini, Here I stand, ready to lead.” To shrink from this challenge would be to deny others the opportunity for growth or healing because of our lack of awareness or fear.

Then again, we might be afraid. We might worry that we don’t possess enough skills. We would not be alone in that fear. The famous psychotherapist, Carl Rogers said, “Before every session, I take a moment to remember my humanity. There is no experience that this man has that I cannot share with him, no fear that I cannot understand, no suffering that I cannot care about, because I too am human.
No matter how deep his wound, he does not need to be ashamed in front of me.
I too am vulnerable.
And because of this, I am enough.
Whatever his story, he no longer needs to be alone with it.
This is what will allow his healing to begin.”

That’s leadership.

Remember, we are not called to be perfect. We are called to be present. Hineini. We are not called to be Moses. Or Carl Rogers. We are called to be our own authentic selves.

Of course, as Rabbi Zion says, “ there is a fine line between confidence and arrogance. It is crucial that as we step forth to lead, we also remain aware of our limitations. This is why after stating, “Here I am,” the prayer leader immediately continues with the words “a person of impoverished acts.” This is, I would add, that humble moment, aware of our limitations and shortcomings. Who among us could not do more or better for other people, for the Earth or for God? It is no wonder that Moses — the great model of Jewish leadership — is also described in the Torah as “the most humble of all people” (Numbers 12:3). But our awareness of our inadequacies cannot lead to paralysis. As the prayer continues, “Please do not allow my own sins and shortcomings to bear on my actions on their behalf.” While it is impossible to fully prevent our personal flaws from impacting our work with others, we must be self-reflective and actively work to improve them.”

Again, we are not called upon to be perfect. We are called to be present. We are called to be whole.

The third element that Rabbi Zion addresses from our prayer Hineni is the texts’ statement about the need for support from others. We must find allies, partners and mentors to help us grow and thrive as leaders. Recognizing this fact, the anonymous author of our prayer turns to the angels for assistance…Being a shaliach tzibur never means going it alone, but rather joining with our community in prayer or action, leading and listening as the experience unfolds.”

That’s true for this rabbi, this cantor, this choir, this CKI president, this neighborhood, this wider community. We are all in. All present. And all together, working for the common good.

There is one more use of Hineini in the Bible. In Isaiah, God says that there will come a time if we act ethically that we will call out and God will respond “Here I am!” (Isaiah 52:6; 58:6-9; 65:1). G-d, as G-d promised, will be our partner in the work of Tikkun Olam. G=d too will be fully present when we call and answer Hineni.

We are here. Right here, at CKI, ready to answer G-d’s call, although as the prayer says, we have little merit. We are humble and ready to do the work of teshuvah, return. Right here, right now. We are answering Hineini with our lives.