Recently, my wife and I had the pleasure of attending a Paul McCartney concert at Wrigley Field in Chicago. In this outstanding three-hour performance, McCartney performed virtually every song written by both the Beatles and Wings, and his own later compositions.
Special light effects accompanied each number. The most magnificent display was during the performances of “Live and Let Die” and “Helter Skelter.” The evening concluded with renditions of “Yesterday” and “Hey Jude.” It was one of the best performances that we have ever attended.
Apparently, due to the current economic recession, some synagogues in their attempt to attract new members have resorted to similar techniques.
Evidently unaware that I was a congregational rabbi, someone sent me the following email. Apparently, three synagogues with declining memberships had joined together to create a new communal religious institution. Two of the three rabbis were retrenched by the new board of directors.
For the High Holiday services, they hired a rabbi from London and a cantor from New York City. The rabbi was billed as “London’s funkiest young rabbi” who created a religious institution known as the “coolshul” and the “hippest” synagogue in the U.K. The chazen was billed as “The Rockin’ Renaissance Rabbi.”
Has our religion become so bereft of significance that we must attract new members by being “hip, rad, and funky?”
What could be more “cool,” according to some of our commentators, than a 37-year-old Isaac who was willing to accompany his father Abraham to the Akedah? What could be more relevant than the fertility problems suffered by many of our matriachs like Sarah?
Has there ever been a more romantic story than the willingness of Jacob to toil for decades to win the hand of his beloved Rachel? What could be more inspiring than the meteoric rise of Joseph from prison to the equivalent of prime minister?
Environmentalists will find relevance in the Torah’s attitude towards agricultural cycles, horticulture and animal husbandry. Historians will marvel that a handful of Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto who with only a few weapons died as heroes against the massive onslaught of the German army.
Scientists will note that stem cell research can be conducted for the purpose of saving future lives. Civil rights activists will marvel at the site of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel walking hand in hand with Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma, Ala.
What could be more relevant than a religion rooted in the past that has evolved to meet the needs of every generation?
It is not that Judaism is inherently “uncool.” Nor is it only the fault of our rabbis and educators for failing to make Judaism relevant.
To use the Yiddish phrase, in every Jew there is a “pintele Yid” — a little Jewish spark. Our educators must ignite this spark in the hearts and minds of their congregants and students. More must be done to reach the individual on a personal level in their quest for Jewish knowledge.
Ask what steps they would like to take to become more proactive in their efforts to create a Jewish lifestyle for themselves and their families. Start with small steps.
Light the holiday and Shabbat candles. Cut out one or more of the forbidden foods. Don’t just drop your kids off at shul, but attend services with them. Put a mezuzah on any door, excluding bathrooms.
After morning prayers during the month of Elul, the piercing sound of the shofar resonates as our wake up call to return to our religious heritage. As the High Holiday Mahzor states, only “repentance, prayer, and charity” will bring us closer to our Creator.
Our rabbis tell us that after Havdalah, the ceremony at the end of the Sabbath or other Jewish holiday, it is the duty of humanity to continue G-d’s work of creating a better world for all its inhabitants. Let us first start with ourselves and our families.
May all of us be inscribed and sealed in the Book of Life. L’shana tova u’metuka — a happy and sweet New Year.
Rabbi Martyn Adelberg is spiritual leader of Beth Israel Sinai Congregation in Racine.
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