On Jewish Identity

Sermon for Kol Nidrei 2003-5764

As most of you know, I have two daughters and a son. Hanna is three and a half years old. Eliana is almost two years old. And Avi is barely a month old. It is amazing to watch children learn and grow up. Infants learn about their world by trying to put it in their mouth, their hands, a parent’s hands, the couch, a sibling’s hair, the dog’s tail…. When they start pulling up on the furniture, watch out! There is so much more to put in their mouths!

Two year olds love giving things labels, identifying everything. That’s mine, that’s Daddy’s, that’s Mommy’s. Ellie is learning more and more names and vocabulary. She is learning to sort the things in her world. I remember when Hanna was about Ellie’s age, we would hear her say, “Hanna is a girl,” “daddy is a boy,” almost daily. Soon after that she even began saying, “I am Jewish. Hanna is Jewish.” Much of childhood is about identity, learning about who we are in relation to others. For much of Jewish history, this night has also been about identity.

On Yom Kippur, Jews are drawn to worship from far and wide. Jews who rarely even see other Jews seek them out on this day. Those who, throughout the rest of the year, find their lives too busy and their calendars so overbooked that they cannot come to the Temple on a regular basis, clear their calendars for this day or at least a part of it.

Many make a special effort to come to the Kol Nidrei service, to hear the Kol Nidrei prayer sung. It is a beautiful and weeping melody that enters our ears and embraces our soul. We feel at home spiritually. It is chicken soup for the Jewish soul, reminding us of who we are and making us feel good about it.

Two hundred years ago, Jews needed no reminders of who they were. A Jew was someone who was born to a Jewish mother. There were exceptions, people who converted to Judaism, but these were extremely rare. All Jews practiced roughly the same brand of Judaism. Though, there were some differences in practice between Ashkenazi Jews and Sephardi Jews as well as additional variations among the ultra-religious. Jews generally dressed differently than those of other religions living in the same regions. They tended to live in communities together, often forced to do so by national governments. They often spoke languages that were their own, whether Yiddish, a combination of Hebrew and German, or Ladino, a combination of Hebrew and Spanish, in addition to the language of the nation in which they lived. Socially, Jews interacted with other Jews exclusively or almost exclusively. There were a few Jews, court Jews and other wealthy Jews, who were able to interact in the broader social world. Jews even had their own courts. All of these things kept Jews together and reinforced their Jewish identities.

So what happened? Things began changing with the enlightenment, with people like Baruch Spinoza, who questioned the Truth. Yet, freedom and opportunity, toleration and assimilation brought change more rapidly.

Suddenly, in Western Europe and in the United States, Jews had the opportunity to practice their religion freely and to interact socially with others. They also the opportunity to study at colleges and universities. Jews became more aware of their place in the world, in society, in history and of how others viewed them. Jews stopped simply accepting the fact that they could not blend in to modern Christian society and began trying to figure out how they could.

The formation of Reform Judaism was as much due to this desire as to any internal developments within Judaism. Fitting in demanded changes in the order and decorum of Jewish worship. It meant being mindful of the ways in which what we say and what we do might be interpreted by others. One of the biggest casualties of this concern was the Kol Nidrei prayer.

Traditionally, the Kol Nidrei is about asking God to absolve us of vows made to God that we are unable to keep. God was the assumed subject because the formula upon which the Kol Nidrei prayer is based originated in a Jewish Beit Din, a Jewish panel of Rabbis, and was only used to seek forgiveness from God for a vow made to God. The prayer itself does not mention God, because in its original context it was assumed. Thus, a non-Jewish listener or reader might misunderstand the Kol Nidrei and believe that Jews are asking to be absolved of ALL vows, ALL promises, that they might make to anyone in the year to come. Unfortunately, there were those who interpreted the prayer in exactly this way and some nations even forced Jews to take an oath stating that the Kol Nidrei prayer would not apply to their testimony or business agreements.

Many Jews eagerly sought to remove the Kol Nidrei from the liturgy, so to avoid being accused of invalidating vows. The Kol Nidrei is not found at all in the original Union Prayer Book from 1894, nor is it in the Revised Edition from 1926. It did make it into the 1946-1947 edition, but without the words either in Hebrew or in English. In essence, the post World War II edition of the Union Prayer Book allowed for the singing of the prayer, deciding, in essence, that the music WAS needed, even though the meaning of the words was NOT. The Gates of Repentance, the New Union Prayer Book, includes the Hebrew with an English translation that notes that the prayer applies only to vows made to God and not to other people. Can you Imagine a Kol Nidrei service WITHOUT the Kol Nidrei? Our prayers and our practices change with the needs of each generation.

Today, we sing a little more than we once did and we sing a whole lot more in Hebrew than Reform Jews once did. Congregations that once would not allow worshippers to wear a tallis or a yarmulke now may encourage their use and call them a tallit and a kipa as well. People who grew up in Reform Jewish congregations prior to 1967 look at today’s congregations and their worship style and find it a completely different world. Which is, of course, because it IS a completely different world for Jews.

The past two summers, I have gone to Goldman Union Camp Institute as one of the faculty members for the National Federation of Temple Youth Institute. This year, 180 high school students from around our region came to learn and to discuss, to socialize and to enjoy Judaism. This year, we examined controversial issues in Jewish life, bioethics, the Peace Process and Terrorism, and interfaith issues among others. Last year, the topic of the institute was Threats to Jewish Identity.

I wish that I could offer a short list that would name every one. We talked about apathy, anti-Semitism, anti-Israel sentiments, rebellion, intermarriage, peer-pressure and other social factors that may make it difficult or undesirable to identify as a Jew. As adults, we do not face all of the same concerns and certainly not in the same degrees that face today’s Jewish youth.

Most of our young people attend elementary schools, middle schools, high schools and colleges in which, as Jews, they find themselves in a small minority. They may interact with few Jews on a regular basis, and if and when they do, Judaism may not be part of the interaction. Their schedules are so full, particularly as they get older, that it is often difficult for them to find opportunities to participate in Jewish life. Many of them drop out of the Jewish community after B’nai Mitzvah or Confirmation only to return again when they become parents.

Years ago, they might have been singled out as Jews because of their physical characteristics: dark hair, dark eyes, a proud and distinguished nose. They might have been singled out because of their last name, Cohen, Schwartz, Goldberg, Rosen. They might have been singled out because of where they lived.

Now, among Jews, and particularly among Reform Jews, there are many Blue Eyed Blondes, and quite a few people of Asian, African, Indian, Arabian, American Indian or South American ancestry. Jews can live anywhere and because of intermarriage and conversion, our family names include Smith, Jones, Gonzalez, Jung, O’Malley and even Mohammed and Christian. Where once a Jew could not simply blend in, now it is almost difficult to stand out.

The kids with whom I have worked at the National Federation of Temple Youth Institute do not attend in order to figure out how to blend in to their larger community. They go to NFTY Institute to learn how to be Jewish in its midst. How to live a Jewish life.

For most of today’s Jewish youth the question on their minds is not “Why BE Jewish?”, because they feel their Jewishness in their souls. The question for them is “Why DO Jewish?” Why celebrate the holidays? Why come together for Shabbat services or Passover Seder? Why take the time to light candles when you are running out the door to go to a concert or a movie? Why learn the history of our people?

Judaism has taught us much, and we, Jews, have much to teach humanity. We do indeed have a Mission. We have a role to play in the world. Jews have been and remain a Light unto the Nations. So when I am asked, “Why DO Jewish?” I say that, it is precisely what we DO in our lives, how we act toward one another and toward those who are less fortunate than we are, how we better our communities and our world, that accomplishes our Mission.

When everything around us is dark, let us be the beacon light. When everything seems hopeless, we will say “Never Say You Walk the Final Road.” When the world around us seems badly broken, let us not despair, for Tikkun Olam is our Mission, the repair of the world.

If someone should ask you, “What is it that Jews are supposed to DO?”, even if you are the least Traditional Jew in Iowa, you can look at them with a glint in your eye and a smile on your face and say, in the words of the prophet Micah:

God has told you what is good, and what is required of you: Only to do justice, to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God.

Avinu Malkeinu, Our Loving Parent, Our Righteous Sovereign, may we be proud of our Jewish heritage, may we thrive on its uniqueness, and may all of humanity continue to be blessed by its blessings. Help us instill in our children and grandchildren the desire that burns within us to keep the light of Judaism shining brightly. May we all be proud of who we are and continue to strive for the betterment of humanity and our world.

Good Yom Tov.