Rosh Hashanah Day 2 2022
The Wisdom of Sharing our Passions
Rabbi Rachel Ain
I wanted to say thank you and explain the postcard at your seat. Thank you for gifting me this Tallit that I am wearing for the first time, during these high holidays. For those of you who didn’t know you gave me a gift, let me explain. In honor of my 10th anniversary, I was given the gift of commissioning something personal with the artist, Jeanette Kuvin Oren who made our beautiful ark curtain and Torah covers that we use during the majority of the year. When our SPS leadership shared with me that I would be able to work with Jeanette, a brilliant artist, to create something meaningful, I was both excited, and terrified. How would I know what to create? The more I thought about it, the more I realized, what I wanted to have made was a new tallit.
A tallit is a very important garment to me. I have stories about each of the ones that I wear, as well as the ones that I no longer have.
My first tallit, the one that I was given as a bat mitzvah, was unfortunately discarded when I was moving into college. I had inadvertently left it at home so my mom gave it to a friend who was moving up a few days later. In the midst of her unpacking, she threw it out. I was able to get a new one which I wore for many years, including when I started wearing tefillin. When I was ordained as a rabbi I was given a second tallit, the one that I have worn for the high holidays for 18 years. It is all white and it has the symbol of JTS on it, a connection to my alma mater-not just academically but spiritually-and where I met Dave and some of my closest friends. The tallit that I have worn every day and shabbat for the last 11 years is one that was gifted to me when I left Syracuse. It was made by a member of the synagogue, a fine arts weaver, who measured me and we worked together to pick out the colors that would be most meaningful. I have worn that tallit with love and I am sure I will continue to wear it at various times.
But this summer-I had the chance to visit with Jeanette at her apartment in Jerusalem and dream about what this tallit could be, and I realized, that just like with anything we wear, we present ourselves and our values in how we show up publicly. I will get back to how I made various choices in a bit, but for now, I would like to share a different story:
Earlier this summer we received 2 envelopes from the same organization. One was addressed to Rabbi David and Rachel Levy and the other was addressed to Rabbi Rachel and David Ain. In no way were either of these correct. Yes, all of the relevant information was there if you put the two envelopes together, but at the end of the day, I am not Rachel Levy and Dave is not David Ain. While this is of course a simple mail merge mistake and I do have compassion because all organizations, I assume here at SPS included, have inadvertently done things incorrectly, it got me thinking-how do we identify ourselves? How do we show up and show people who we are? What do we want to communicate about ourselves? Who will others think we are? And can we be proud of who we are?
Our name is of course our first address. This isn’t a surprise-the act of naming takes place as early as the beginning of Genesis in the creation narratives, and so we understand that names are a sacred gift entrusted to us. The names that we were given by our parents and the names that we introduce ourselves as, are core to who we are. Sometimes, people choose to change their names completely. Sometimes, people use different names at different times-many women have their “professional names” and the names their children’s school know them by. Some people, are like me, who kept their given names also added names, the way I added HaRav to my Hebrew name.
The question is, how do we know, who we are so that when we introduce ourselves, we use our names but we are more than just that?
In Glennon Doyle’s memoir, Untamed, she writes: (249-251): -She writes, in my favorite, there is a poem about a group of people desperate to understand and define God.
They ask: What are you? God says: I am. They say: You are . . . what? God says: I am.
What are you, Glennon? II Are you happy?
Are you sad? Are you Christian? Are you a heretic? Are you a believer? Are you a doubter? Are you young? Are you old?
Are you good? Are you bad? Are you dark? Are you light? Are you right? Are you wrong? Are you deep? Are you shallow? Are you brave? Are you weak? Are you shattered? Are you whole? Are you wise? Are you foolish? Are you sick? Are you healed? Are you lost? Are you found? Are you gay? Are you straight? Are you crazy? Are you brilliant? Are you caged? Are you wild? Are you human? Are you alive? Are you sure?
I am.
I am. I am.
How would we answer these questions? Can we? Do we know who we are and what we stand for? Do others know it?
A story is told:
Once, when I was a little boy, I got lost in the May company-in the handkerchief department. My mother told me to stay close to her while she shopped for presents but it was Hannukkah time and I let go of my mother’s hand and when I turned around, my mother was gone and I was lost. The saleslady was very nice. She asked me, what is your name. I kept on crying and she asked me again, “what is your name.” Dan Siegel,” I said, “Dan Siegel.” My name is Dan Siegal. Then I stopped crying. I felt warm and good inside because I knew my name, so I wasn’t frightened anymore .I was somebody because I knew my name.
And then, one day, when I was a little boy, I saw someone else get lost in our classroom in school. He knew his name alright. Jimmy Samuels. He even knew his address, But he looked as lost as I did in the May company. You see, we were studying about America and Miss Sattler, went around the room asking the children, and they stood up, and told about the countries their parents or grandparents or great grandparents came from and what their people had done to build up amerce. The boy next to me told some interesting things about Holland and the girl next to me said something about Ireland-she even sang an Irish lullaby. But Jimmy Samuels just stood there. Miss Sattler said “Jimmy, you must have something interesting to tell, you are Jewish aren’t you?” But Jimmy just stood there, frozen. I looked at Jimmy and I stood up and said a few things. I talked about how the word Jewish comes from Judah and he was one of the sons of Jacob and that names sticks in all Jewish history. I talked about some of the things I learned in synagogue. –like getting rid of idols or fighting to be free from the Egyptians and the Greeks and all of the holidays and how sukkot was like thanksgiving. I probably talked too long but then I realized that I felt just the way I did when I remembered my name in the May Company. I said it out loud and clear. I felt just as if I knew my name.
So now I wonder if maybe a person can get lost even if he knows him name and his address perfectly well-if there isn’t more than one kind of name that goes with a person. My name is Jewish. I know that name too.
So you can’t be frightened when you know your name.
You can’t get lost when you know your name
You’re somebody when you know your name.
But today, just knowing your name, and just knowing your community, isn’t necessarily enough. It is important today to be able to articulate who you are, what you are passionate about and what you stand for as an expression of your values.
How do we know what we stand for? How do we express those values?
Zack has been wearing a Jewish star since his bar mitzvah. He is so proud of the chain. It is something that he chose to do. While there are moments, sadly, that I might be concerned about his public expression of his Jewish identity, overall, wearing something on our body is a way to express what we care about.
Another way to do it is with our ritual garments. Whether it is the kippah we wore (if you recall, I gave a sermon a few years ago about the many kippot one can wear and what they represent), the tefillin as a reflection of the commitment to tradition and daily ritual, or a tallit. I started to share earlier what my tallit means to me, but now I would like to go a bit deeper.
Last year I spoke about Peoplehood but what is the essence of our faith? From the inside? What does it mean to be Jewish? What are our core values? The stripes on a tallit-to me, are branding of sorts-an identity marker.
And so I stand before you, draped in a tallis. It is taught that one is buried in their tallis, and while I don’t know if in hopefully decades to come, it will be this tallis that I am buried in, the idea that we are buried by being wrapped in a garment, needs to have, for me, meaning that is timeless.
So what does a tallis represent? What does a tallis represent for me?
In creating this tallis, I had to try to boil down the essence of who I am onto a garment (it was an incredible exercise actually…I encourage you to think about what would your 7 stripes and 4 corners be- you will see you have blank spaces on the card in front of you)
Which verses best define who I am when I can’t choose them all? How will you best know what I stand for?
So let me show you, hopefully, to not only give you an insight or an affirmation of what I believe is key to being Jewish but hopefully go get you thinking…what would you put on your tallit?
Let’s start with the Atarah:
Hinei Mah Tov-central to who I am as a rabbi (community building-it is the glue that holds the sides together-we need to sit together) And we have certainly seen that over these last several years and I hope that this year even more of you will come back more frequently in person as we sit and see each other.
On the sides:
V’havienu Lashalom Mearbah Kanfot-part of the Jewish people I referenced this last year but to me, being Jewish means being connected to Jews around the world…we need to work on understanding those relationships-and to be there for people. On Kol Nidre I will be speaking about how Israel was there for Ukrainian Jews and I want to make sure that we are always part of a group that will look out for our brethren.
Moving on from practical relationships, I chose a few verses with theological implications:
Ba-Erev Yalin V’laBoker Rinah-Weeping May Tarry for the Night but Joy Will Come in the Morning. This is a theology that I try to ascribe to. This doesn’t mean that things are easy or that the pain we encounter automatically disappears but it does mean that we should hope for a better tomorrow. It was important to me that theologically, I wore these words.
Another verse is Kol Neshahama Tehallel Yah, from psalm 150, a psalm that we chant every morning. Since the beginning of the pandemic, it has been this psalm that we have focused on to mark moments of saying Halleujah, moments of gratitude. For me, the idea of connecting to God through prayer and with our whole body and breath is important and I hope that as we begin this year together, you will consider what is your spiritual relationship with God. What might you do to strengthen it?
Another verse that was an automatic for me is from the Book of Genesis, 1:27. Vayivrah Elohim Et HaAdam B’zalmo-the importance of being created in the divine image-the sanctity of each person-the reminder that how we present ourselves isn’t in fact always clear and we need to be sensitive to people’s identities.
But we are of course, not just individuals, we are part of a collective, which is why I chose Lech Lecha-the verse where God calls out to Abraham -the relationship of Israel, of going on journeys, of seeking out what we need-may each of us find a journey to walk on in this year ahead.
And then, I chose something not from Tanakh, but from Pirke Avot, Ethics of our ancestors. The world stands on Three things: On Torah, Avodah, Gemilut Chasadim-the balance of these three things is what keeps the world upright. I don’t believe we can or should focus on just one which is why, as your rabbi, I try to lead our congregation in a way that allows for multiple connections to Judaism.
And lastly, there are the 4 Squares:
My full name-connected to my parents-I am who I am because of their influence on my life + a Tree-i am rooted in my past and building my future
My immediate family-they are everything. Dave, Jared, and Zack are my rock and my inspiration. It doesn’t mean that every day at home is perfect, what days are, but having their names as a part of this garment was essential.
Hebrew date of when I started at SPS. Starting here and remaining here has changed my life. There is a gratitude that I feel for what has been and an excitement for what is to come.
Open tent-Abraham and Sarah-the role of men and women in Jewish life-OK, I cheated a bit for this one: I wanted the verses from the Amidah w/the avot and imahot (patriarchs and matriarchs) but I didn’t have enough space…So I realized that this picture of an open tent serves two purposes: The first, is the role that men and women have played in the blossoming of the Jewish community but also the importance of having an open, welcoming door. Abraham was known for inspiring people to become Jewish, something that I take seriously, and as our tent is open, we want to have positive interactions with others outside of our faith, core values.
As you can see, these concepts direct me and focus me.
We are taught that one must wear tzizit to remind us of the 613 mitzvot-in fact, an R rated story is told in the talmud about a rabbi who was about to have relations with a woman (who he was not supposed to be with) and his tzizit “jumped up” and slapped him in the face. It might be comical, but it makes a point-how do we ensure that we not only wear our values but live our values. We can’t wear a uniform and then not act on what it represents.
Building on the tallitot that came before-memories of each -what they meant/ how we carry our memories when we hold the corners together - being buried in a Tallis.
What would yours say? What do you have in your life that serves as a guide for your behavior and serves as a reflection of what you are and what you believe in? How do you communicate your values, how do you tell your story?
When your life comes to an end, what will others be able to point to and say, ahhh, that is what this person was about?
Several years ago, the hat company, New Era, launched a “fly your own flag” campaign.
Brand ambassadors will be introduced throughout the campaign, but one constant graphic element in all of the advertising will be customizable word-cubes that allow the “Fly Your Own Flag” expression to be brought to life for any individual. These word-cubes will spell out phrases that speak to the concept of the New Era brand as a great enabler of self-expression; phrases like “Dance Your Own Dance,” “Write Your Own History” and “Blaze Your Own Trail.”
“We're making a powerful statement here; one that truly empowers our consumers,” said Koch. “Every effort behind the Fly Your Own Flag campaign is meant to not only drive the evolution of our brand, but also to celebrate the people who have helped build our brand – our consumers.
Here is the thing-SPS isnt a baseball cap company and Judaism is as much about the community as it is about the individual but each individual has the flags they wear proudly, as they emphasize different parts of themselves, their Judaism, and their passion. There are core texts that unite us-it might be the shma, it might be our connection to Israel, about which I spoke yesterday, it might be the sense of questions through the ages, that Judaism can provide a wise answers for.
But no matter what it is, you should feel free to express it. For me, it is through the stripes on my tallis-as a vision statement of sorts, to make sure that I am always focused in the right direction.
It isn’t always easy to know who we are. In fact, it can often be quite overwhelming. Finding a direction in one’s life can often be messy and confusing. The act of articulating our values can, I believe add order and meaning to our lives. We are in the midst of the 10 days of repentance and we are supposed to use these days, to think more deeply about who we are and how we show up before God and others. In order to do that, we need to actually take time.
My hope is that during these holidays we will take time to think about who we are, and what we want to be, so that when we reconvene next year, “the gap between who I am and who I want to be is even smaller than it is now.”And please know: No matter what you wear, how you show it, this year, be you. Show up. Share. Engage. Your passion is needed. Your wisdom is desired. We can’t wait to learn it from you.
