Yom Kippur 2007/5768

A Bar or Bat Mitzvah boy or girl is both proud and anxious. They are proud that their months of hard work has paid off and that they were able to participate so well in the service. They are also nervous about being in front of such a large group of people. Yet they overcome their anxiety by giving a speech in which they lay out their vision for their adult Jewish life. They talk about what they have learned from their Torah reading and their Jewish education that speaks to them and what they will do in the future.

Today I stand before you as a Bar Mitzvah boy. 13 years ago I drove down from Massachusetts to begin serving as your rabbi. I still remember with great gratitude driving directly to the home of Sylvia and Marv Levy for dinner with them and other members of the shul. I remember the other dinners that week at other members’ homes. And I remember the meals brought to my home for the following week. That warm welcome will never be forgotten. As I stand before you today I have learned a lot about being your rabbi and I can say that there are three elements of my rabbinate that are important for the future of our shul and our work together.

We have to continue to be welcoming. There’s a lot of competition with other synagogues. Jews on a whole don’t tend to stay affiliated with a synagogue too long. We have to make synagogue be a place that Jews would want to enter. I have loved being able to greet people at the door in our elementary school location and I hope to continue that in the new shul building.

We have to continue to foster community/family. Especially in Washington where people come here from all across America, we have to be the second home for them. We do a great job of calling everyone in the shul to wish them a happy new year. We do a great job of creating new chavurot - social groups - for everyone to make new friends. And we do a great job of supporting those who are ill and in need through the efforts of our Chesed committee.

We have to continue to be challenging. There is no meaning in just providing an easy way to be Jewish and serving the lowest common denominator. We have to continue to teach that Judaism is a ladder to be climbed. No matter our background there are still more rungs to climb.

I look forward to focusing on these areas with you as I continue to be blessed to be your rabbi.

Return to Rabbi's Sermons

Copyright © 2007, Shaare Tefila Congregation. All Rights Reserved.
10881 Lockwood Drive, Silver Spring, MD 20901 P: (301) 593-3410 F: (301) 593-0280
Page Maintained By: webmaster@shaaretefila.org. Site by HG Interactive.