Shabbat Shalom
L'shonah tovah tekatavu

I want to share with you some thoughts that are influenced by the life and teachings of Yochanan ben Zakkai. How should his teaching influence us to think in the New Year as a community of Jews and for our Tifereth Israel community as well?

Yochanan ben Zakkai brought fullness, comprehensiveness, discipline and balance to his life. He was an exemplar. I will discuss other exemplars that we can look to who are of our time.

The Tifereth Israel community is in a good place now. It has now for some time rabbinic and lay leadership that pulls together. It respects learning, community, tikkun olam and beigh there for one another. We can now ask ourselves what additional steps do we take to strengthen our community in the spirit of the contributions Yochanan ben Zakkai made.

I. Yochanan ben Zakkai's Life

We may well not be here today if it were not for the persistent and imaginative qualities Yochanan ben Zakkai brought to Jewish life. He created the Yavne learning center after the destruction of the Second Temple. The destruction of the Temple led to a rebirth of Judaism. Yochanan ben Zakkai served as an exemplar by spreading knowledge of the Torah, and through the Yavneh study center, and Beth Din, helped renew our people's religious and national leadership.

The exercise of such leadership doesn't just happen. Rabban Yochanan was a student in the House of Hillel. He absorbed the House's short and pithy maxims, which reflected generosity, mercy and love of people and their civilizations. Their leniency and modest ways won the hearts of the sages. For 400 years until the Sanhedrin (Council of Ekders) ceased to exist the Hillel influence dominated the office of Nasi, the president of the Sanhedrin.

Rabban Yochanan, who taught in the shadow of the Temple, in those tempestuous years prior to its destruction, was not in the party of the Zealots. In their fanatacism they were prepared to pursue what the highly regarded Israeli General Harkabi called the Masada complex-in defense of fundamentalism a readiness to risk the survival of Judaism. In contrast, Rabban Yochanan urged peace between families and governments. He prudently cautioned against tearing down the "high places" of the non-Jews.

Rabban Yochanan was opposed to the revolt against the Romans. He sensed that it was doomed to fail. From failure dire consequences would flow. Before the fall of Jerusalem he got permission from the Roman General Vespasian (later to become emperor) to establish the learning and spiritual center at Yavneh. That continued the Hillelite succession. There, under Rabban Yochanan's leadership critical ordinances were issued that adapted Jewish life to the new reality. These were not Delphic oracles suddenly revealed. The rulings were the product of debate and discussion.

Differences were respected. Here we see the beginnings of what Ari Goldman, in his wonderful book, Being Jewish, written from an orthodox and tolerant perspective, refers to as "idiosyncratic Judaism." Lots of space for difference, that comes from being informed.

One other fact is important. Rabban Yochanan escaped from Jerusalem in a coffin. Remember he had negotiated with the Romans. He was under cover because of the Jewish Zealots who probably would have killed him if he were caught.

As Rabbi Greenberg said in The Jewish Way, Yochanan ben Zakkai is the primary architect of the post Destruction rabbinic response which rebuilt Jewish life.

II. Yochanan ben Zakkai's Teachings

You will not find many references to Rabban Yochanan. Whole books by Heschel, Hertz's commentaries, Plaut and other note worthies do not reference him. In more recent times Greenberg, Hammer, Holtz, Teleshukin, Waskow and others reference Rabban Yochanan.

In {Siddur} Sim Shalom there is a reference to a core teaching of Rabban Yochanan in the morning davening on weekdays, Shabbat and holidays. He is referenced widely in Pirkei Avot, our Ethics of the Ancestors, that we pay special attention to between Pesach and Shavout.

I want to look at three teachings of Rabban Yochanan because they influence me on how we should behave as a community.

1. The story goes. Once, Rabban Yochanan was coming forth from Jerusalem, Rabbi Joshua, a disciple, followed after him and beheld the Temple in ruins. "Woe unto us!", Rabbi Joshua cried, "that this, the place where the iniquities of Israel were atoned for, is laid waste."

My son, Rabban Yochanan said to him, "be not grieved; we have another atonement as effective as this. It is acts of loving-kindness. For I desire loving kindness and not sacrifice.

Let us see how Heschel applies this teaching. Drawing a lesson from Deuteronomy. All people, and all nations, are endowed with the likeness of God. Reverence in God is shown by our reverence for our fellow humans. To be arrogant to a fellow human being is to be arrogant toward God.

2. The second teaching deals with a ruling by Rabban Yochanan's court on what is called the Bitter Waters question. As we know adultery in ancient Israel was a capital crime. Numbers states that the "breath of suspicion" and a "rush of jealousy" by the husband could result in a psychological ordeal of having the accused wife partake of the Bitter waters. This psychological ordeal is consistent with the control men had over the sexuality of their wives and daughters, which is often found in Biblical texts.

Rabban Yochanan's court ruled that the Bitter Waters ordeal could no longer be administered because adultery had become so widespread among men therefore women could not be singled out for punishment in cases based on suspicion and jealousy. This represents one of the earliest rulings that set a standard of increasing the legal status of women in marriage and divorce matters beyond the Biblical norm. How do we strengthen the support efforts necessary to create communities of equality and respect?

3. I confess I am always disappointed, even having a feeling of being cheated, when Rosh Hashanah comes on a Shabbat. I know it means that none of us will fall behind in our work and that's a convenience. In the days of the Temple the shofar was blown there on Shabbat. Rabban Yochanan argued for blowing the shofar on Shabbat in Yavneh. Where there is a Bet Din the shofar can be blown. This caused a bitter argument. As the central religious authority broke up the Rabbis opposed to blowing won out. They feared that the shofar blowing would be taken into public space where such blowing would be prohibited on Shabbat.

Yes, the Shofar declares our faith in God as the Sovereign of the World. It recalls the Torah giving at Sinai where the Shofar was sounded. But for me Maimonides got it right. We must wake up from our deep sleep, search our deeds, think of Rabban Yochanan's good deeds. We are sufficiently disciplined that we will not take the shofar into public space on Shabbat.

But we should think of ways even on Shabbat, without violating the letter or spirit of Shabbat, of summoning ourselves, and others in our communities. We could use the extra summoning to identify specific ways that engage us in communal acts of loving kindness.

III. Modern Exemplars

Models are helpful. {My wife} Carla's grandmother reminded her family that a bad example is better than no example. I want to discuss three good examples. Like Yochanan ben Zakkai, each of these exemplars faced rapid change. They worked to master change, drew on deep values and traditions that were largely neglected, and influenced and established changes that will endure in the societies in which they participated.

I think of action exemplars.

1. Rosa Parks who freed us all by refusing to go to the back of the bus.

2. Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, of blessed memory, who prayed with his feet in Selma and the anti-Vietnam war marches.

There are other exemplars whose deeds are less well known and are equally instructive.

1. Henrietta Szold. We know her of course through the loving kindnesses of the organization Hadassah. This year, while in Israel, I learned of Henrietta Szold's pioneering direct action of joining the daily minyan at the Jewish Theological Seminary to say Kaddish for her mother. This was a revolutionary act that occurred in 1916 or 5677. That was a bold act in its time. Like the first Bat Mitzvah of Judith Kaplan, Ms. Szold recognized that somebody has to step up, take action and even confront. Change in practice, efforts at winning equality require overcoming those who resist it and who say that is not how change is made.

2. Isaiah Berlin. Sir Isaiah is a hero of mine. He was a marvelous democratic theorist and philosopher. He lived an exuberant and full life doing the work of democracy in the secular world and the Jewish world. Living well past 80 he took Psalm 90 seriously recognizing that life was to be lived fully and not wasted. He observed Passover, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur as he moved in many worlds including the Zionist orbit. He had the talent to gain the confidence of Chaim Weizman and David ben Gurion No easy task, as we know. He could fit in the world of the Oxford high table and always retain his Jewishness in identity and practice. In his latter years he created a college at Oxford in an England that accepted a Jewish name for the college and welcomed its Jewish origin.

3. John Gardner. As he gets older John Gardner, a mentor and friend, sustains himself with that quality of staying interested in the many worlds around him. To stay interested at 88 sets an example of remarkable modeling. Ideas spring forth, advice is given, finding ways to learn continues.

I see these qualities in Carla's mother, who takes a course in bio-ethics and a friend's father who studies Kabbalh, and takes a course on Antigone and Oedipus.. Each is over 90. I see it in our member Libbey Sussan who navigates the Metro access system, moves around the metropolitan area, ready to listen to Rabbi Reuven Hammer speak at the King library about Judaism to a racially diverse audience.

It is said of our hero Rabban Yochanan that he had three lives that he shared with his family-a working life, a life of study and one of teaching. John Gardner returns what he learns in each stage of his life. He is an exemplar who never tires of staying interested.

In these lives, we find people who are neither spectators nor stand patters, neither passive nor sonambulant. They are connected to their worlds outside of themselves. In a real sense that is our challenge as a community.

IV. Dealing with Changes in the World of which We Are a Part

Yochanan ben Zakkai had the imagination and presence to create the institutional arrangements that enabled us to learn from texts, to capture learning, organize it, systematize it and make it endure. He practiced what Michael Walzer and his co-authors in their massive study on Jewish Authority call "interpretive pluralism." From the Mishnah, some centuries later, we learn that there is no monolithic tradition. The Mishnah provides us with a record of controversies. That speaks to respecting differences and non-prevailing views.

We too can continuously hold us ourselves to a standard of respecting difference within our movement, and draw on learning from other movements as well.

Tifereth Israel has had a rich tradition of amplifying voices from Israel that have had a hard time being heard in the United States.

At an early stage, long before they were public figures, we gave a platform to, and learned from, Avrahum Burg, wounded in military action, an orthodox practitioner, who supported initiating a peace process. Now he is a public leader who happens to be Speaker of the Knesset.

We provided recognition for Alice Shalvi, a religiously observant Orthodox women, an outstanding Israeli educator, who was battling for equality among women in education and the ability to gain recognition for women in gaining lay responsibilities in religious services. Shalvi is a recognized leader in the efforts to achieve women's equality and dignity.

We listened in a study session to Moshe Halbertal, a leading Orthodox scholar, who drew on his deep Jewish learning to provide within the framework of Jewish sources respect for other people. In the context of his presentation that meant Israeli Arabs who are citizens of Israel and Palestinians.. His respect as a scholar has only gained and it is further informed by the work of his wife who has collaborated with and influenced Carol Gilligan, a leading social thinker in the U.S.

These examples are part of our Tifereth Israel living legacy and historic memory. As a people of memory we should recognize that this is not in the distant past. It all happened in the mid and late 1980s.

What should our relationship be with Israel? Of course we should support the Conservative Movement's Masorti organization. We should financially support and stand with Synagogues that are torched and trashed by Jewish zealots. It is basic to stand up to intolerant fanatics. But we should not be limited to just that. We should reach out when we travel to Israel and attend, and make connections with, two innovative and inclusive congregations. I know that many of you have attended services in Jerusalem at Mevakeshai Derech, and former members of TI who have made Aliyah are members there. In addition in Jerusalem there is Kol Ha Nishamah, which draws on fewer USA folks. Its members too have created a spiritually inclusive community. We should learn from each and share what we have to offer as well.

One focus needs to be on understanding Jewish sources and teaching. Interestingly enough there are examples in each of the branches of Judaism path breaking approaches to making the religious services, particularly Shabbat, spiritually inclusive. The New York Times made the renewal of American Jewry official with a thoughtful and comprehensive article in which it recognized Rabbi Schwarz's path breaking book Finding A Spiritual Home on September 23.

We have aspects of TI life to share with others and we have much to learn. What makes it something that is worth pursuing is that we have much to give and much to receive. Clearly we should seek out individual conversations, and using the modern means of low cost interactive technology, begin the process that will lead to direct relationships and learning from those congregations who are most willing givers and receivers.

V. How We Act as a Community-Bringing It Home

We are in a very good place now. Our strength is manifold. That is why we can push ourselves to determine how Tifereth Israel acts as a Jewish community in a changing America that is diverse culturally, religiously, racially and by ethnicity. Our effective leadership makes our pushing ourselves practical and achievable. How do we work at creating an enduring spiritual home in our Tifereth Israel community?

We start by looking at what we have. What I will list is not meant to be exhaustive.

1. We blend egalitarianism with tradition.

2. We have a social justice agenda. Tikkun Olam is part of who we are.

3. We have a learning community that draws strong and continuing support from the Rabbi and our members.

4. We have lay led services that engage us.

5. We try to reach new constituencies.

6. We take adult education seriously.

7. Congregants participate in other areas of Jewish learning and bring it back to Tifereth Israel.

8. We have acted on the importance of having a pleasing physical environment.

9. We have institutional room to create learning space in a serious and informed way.

Our ethic is very different from many of the secular Jews described in Samuel Freedman's probing book Jew vs. Jew-people who luxuriate in their ignorance of Jewish history and practice. Our learning is continuous and we do not luxuriate.

So if we are doing so well what more do we need to do? What I will suggest in no way suggests a weakening or abandonment of our commitment to Conservative Judaism with its traditional practices, or a leadership role for the Rabbi. It respects the customs of the synagogue. It recognizes that we have much to offer in our place in this community, Washington, within the movement itself and with Jews in other parts of the world including Israel. By the same token we have much to learn from other. Such learning does not need to come only from Conservative Judaism.

We can ask ourselves a series of questions that an open-minded learning institution undertakes. Other congregations have been engaged by such a process.

1. In what we do well are there further ways of improving without losing our energy.

2. Do we have ongoing personal support for those who seek it

3. Do we create space for newer members and longer standing ones to share their personal spiritual stories?

4. At life cycle events do we share the moment and create legacies for our families and community members.

5. Are we willing to experiment with the prayer experience with alternative liturgies or poetry or readings from other Jewish traditions and non-Jewish onesthat parallel the Jewish experience.

6. Are we prepared to answer the question of how does Tifereth Israel's mission fit with the Judaism of our congregation?

VI. Conclusion

The Jewish community in America has flourished in the freedom that we have fought for and earned. In celebrating our Judaism, which requires the anchoring of Jewish learning, and institutional vibrancy, we must remember that Judaism teaches love of, not just tolerance for, our fellow human beings. It calls for involvement in, and not withdrawal, from the broader American community in its many relationships that extend beyond our borders. How to be joyously Jewish and joyously American? How to strengthen the exceptionalism of each and to have each support the quest for the other? These are our challenges.

Our teacher, Heschel, reminds us that "one may not appoint a proxy to engage in spiritual struggles." Our freedom makes it harder to draw on our phenomenal capacity for remembering-a memory that Heschel is quick to point out was "not sustained through Jews filling themselves with knowledge about antiquity...."

Instead Heschel teaches us when we say what we believe we equate that with what we remember. As a community our challenge is to create a collective memory. The creation of a collective memory means that we recognize in Heschel's words that the "days of the past and present are inextricably tied together." Heschel teaches us that we must walk with the prophet Isaiah, Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai, Maimonides and the Baal Shem Tov. Our learning, relating and connecting is not fulfilled until we "interact with those who live among us today." From that ongoing interaction we will create and continue the collective memory that Yochanan ben Zakkai led us to in Yavneh so long ago.

---

Copyright ©1998-2007 Tifereth Israel Congregation, Washington, DC, USA. (202) 882-1605