Beginning to Reflect as we approach Rosh Hashanah

August 27, 2009 · Filed Under Baum's Blog 

Rosh Hashanah is coming.  I know you might not be thinking much about it, but I’ve been thinking about sermons for weeks.  It’s just about time to put pen to paper – or fingers to computer actually.

At OurJewishCommunity.org (which video streams services from Congregation Beth Adam), services are pretty fabulous!   And, of course, I say that with some amount of bias.  Yet, the truth is that what I love about the services is our unique liturgy – for which I can take no credit.  That liturgy has been written by a group of individuals over the years – and predates my time at Beth Adam and OurJewishCommunity.org.

One of the other aspects of our services that I love is that there is a great deal of learning.  In addition to our sermons, we rabbis present original midrashim (Jewish legends) that we write to communicate some larger message.  And we don’t just read Torah; we teach Torah.  We pick a topic and flesh it out – bringing a greater context to the text.

A bit different is that we don’t read the assigned texts for the holidays.  While many congregations read the Binding of Isaac on Rosh Hashanah morning and verses from Deuteronomy on Yom Kippur morning (in addition to Haftorah readings like Jonah on Yom Kippur), we read a different text each year. 

In fact, while most congregations follow a cycle of Torah readings throughout the year, beginning the book of Genesis in the fall and progressing straight through to the end of Deuteronomy, we do not do that.  Just like the rabbis pick the High Holiday Torah portions, our Bar/Bat Mitzvah students choose their own portions.

There are many advantages of this model.  Allowing Bar/Bat Mitzvah students to choose (through a process with their rabbis and family) means that they ultimately pick a portion that is meaningful to them.  Sure, they could attempt to make meaning out of any Torah portion, but why not let them make a proactive choice to select what they will read on their special occasion?  That way they can fully explore a topic that is of inherent interest to them.

This year Rabbi Barr and I have decided to read the Torah portion called Balak for the High Holidays.  Another blog will be about that choice – one that essentially involves reading a story about a talking ass!

So, as I prepare sermons, choose Torah verses, and think about the legends I want to share, it’s also time for all of us to start thinking about the holidays.  Why do we observe Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur?  Is our observance meaningful, or not?  What are these holidays about?  Will I reflect more during the holidays than I do the rest of the year? 

Those are just a few questions to get the ball rolling.  Feel free to answer in a comment here – or add more of your own questions.

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Comments

5 Responses to “Beginning to Reflect as we approach Rosh Hashanah”

  1. Peter Schogol Says:
    August 28th, 2009 at 1:35 am

    You know you’re going to get a lot of feedback about a talking ass. Let me be the first to nominate any number of radio or television commentators.

  2. Aron G. Says:
    August 28th, 2009 at 2:05 pm

    Interesting altenative for Torah reading. The most immediate objection I have is that one might, without any specific intent, avoid the less comfortable Torah portions. Do you intentionally include some of these “dark” Torah portions sometimes?

  3. Rabbi Baum Says:
    September 3rd, 2009 at 4:54 pm

    Aron – good question. I would say we hit the whole range. Not exactly sure what you mean by “dark” – but we do cover a lot.

  4. Dave Salyers Says:
    September 3rd, 2009 at 6:52 pm

    Peter – we probably could also include quite a few politicians and celebrities too. Gee, what does that say about us as a society? ;-)

  5. Aron G. Says:
    September 3rd, 2009 at 7:47 pm

    In “dark”, I just mean dealing with a difficult piece of Torah, like the order to stone rebellious sons in last week’s reading.

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