Kol Nidre 2007/5768
In April at the Rabbinical Assembly convention in Boston, and again in July at the Hartman Institute in Jerusalem, I had occasion to hear from the new Chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary - Dr. Arnold Eisen. He is a down to earth man who prefers to be called Arnie, yet he is also a brilliant scholar and sociologist. He wrote the book The Jew Within seven years ago which is considered the best sociological study of the American Jewish community. As a sociologist he brings a different outlook to his role as leader of the Conservative Movement. Instead of telling us rabbis what he thinks we should be doing, he only suggested that we begin a conversation with our congregations about mitzvah. Mitzvah is what defines us as a Movement and distinguishes us from the other denominations and it is unclear how much the average member of a Conservative synagogue knows about mitzvot and incorporates them into their lives.
The traditional understanding of Judaism is the relationship between God, Torah, and Israel. It can be pictured as a triangle with each element being dependent on the other and being enriched by the other. Our (Israel) relationship with God is enhanced by the mitzvot we perform for they are opportunities every day to experience God - they are moments of spirituality.
The traditional understanding is that God wrote the Torah and gave it to Moses at Mt. Sinai over 3,000 years ago. The rabbinic interpretations and the 613 mitzvot are also considered to have been given by God. In fact they are literally commandments. If we follow them we will be blessed and rewarded, if not we will be punished.
A modern approach, taught by the Conservative Movement, offers a different understanding. Because the Torah seems to teach an ethic and morality specifically for a generation 3,000 years ago (e.g. laws against idolatry and child sacrifice) it seems that there must be some human involvement in the recording or transmission of the Torah. God may have dictated the Torah to Moses, Moses may have had a vision and then wrote the Torah upon awakening, or as Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote, the Torah could have been the midrash - the interpretation - the community of Israel wrote after experiencing Sinai. Any of these approaches suggest that Man had a significant role in developing the system of law and mitzvot that we have. Therefore "commandment" is more of a feeling of being commanded, or a feeling that this is what God would want us to do.
That modern/Conservative approach is the way I practice Judaism. I subscribe to the idea that the Torah is Divine and therefore a sacred and holy text. I believe that rabbis in every generation have the authority to interpret and refine the system and even make changes when necessary (e.g. egalitarianism). I perform the mitzvot always thinking that they prompt me to be thinking about my relationship with God; to think about God as the higher authority; and to think about what other mitzvot I can incorporate into my daily life.
As Arnie Eisen suggests, the concept of mitzvah is crucial to understanding our Jewish identity. Let’s look to the program guide that the shul prepared and the list in the back for possible mitzvah ideas to incorporate in our lives this coming year. The goal in what ever we do is to be challenged. We need to know that there is always more to do to find meaning and fulfillment in our lives. Let us find those mitzvot, those spiritual opportunities this year.
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