Kol Nidre 5765 (2004):

The Voice of the Prophets Still Speaks

There is the story of the rabbi who was walking to his synagogue for shabbat morning services. As he walked by a card parlor, he looked in and saw Shlomie, one of his congregants, playing cards and smoking a cigarette. Shlomie sees the rabbi and immediately comes over to the open window. “Shlomie,” the rabbis asks, “did you for get it was the Sabbath?” “No rabbi I didn't for forget it was the Sabbath." “ Then did you forget smoking is not allowed on the sabbath?” “No rabbi I didn't forget that smoking is not allowed on the Sabbath." “Then what happened Shlomie?” “I guess rabbi I forgot that I was Jewish.”

On Yom Kippur, we come together to remember that all of us here are connected to Judaism in one way or another. More importantly I think we also come together to remember what Judaism is. On Rosh Hashana I spoke about the importance of character. Living with good character in one’s personal life is the foundation of an ethical Jewish life. Yet it is not the completion of the ethics of Judaism. We as Jews are also called to social justice.  The Torah also calls us to involvement in the ethical issues of the society in which we live.  One of the most stirring phrases in the Torah is the verse: “Tzedek Tzedek Tirdof-Justice, Justice Shalt Though Pursue!” The rabbis pointed out the doubling of the word justice. They said a Jew must not only be fair and just in one's personal dealings. We must also be engaged in the social justice of the society in which we live. Isaiah, Amos, Micha,  and the other Prophets of the Jewish Bible, tirelessly preached this message. Rabbinic Judaism ruled that a section of the Prophets must be read every Shabbat and Holiday along with the Torah portion. The Prophets did not just preach this message in ancient times. They preach it to us every week. Just listen to the words of the prophet Isaish that will be chanted in every synagogue in the world tomorrow. Listen to what was chosen to be read on the Sabbath of Sabbaths.  Observe what is the standard of behavior, set by these passages to lead a holy life.

Isaiah speaks on behalf of God saying, "Shout with full throat; do not hold back! Raise your voice like a shofar and tell my people their transgression, the House of Jacob its sin! Every day they seek Me, yearning to know My ways, like a nation that does what is right, which has not abandoned the judgement of its God. They ask me about judgments of righteousness; they yearn for nearness to God." "They say,'Why did we fast and You did not See? We afflicted ourselves and you did not notice?'  Behold, says God, on your fast day you seek personal gain and oppress those who toil for you. Behold, you fast in strife and argument and to strike with a wicked fist. You do not fast appropriately for today, to make your voice heard on high! Is such a fast the one I want: a day for people to afflict themselves? To bow the head like a bulrush and sprawl in sackcloth and ashes? Is this what you would call a fast and a day favored by Adonai? No, Is not this the fast I would choose instead; To unlock the shackles of wickedness; to loosen the yoke of injustice; to set free the oppressed and every chain tear apart? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, to bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked to clothe them, and not to ignore your own kin? Then your light will burst forth like the dawn and your healing swiftly flourish. Your righteousness will precede you; God's honor will follow you. Then, when you call out, God will respond; when you cry our God will say, "I am here." Heneini."

On Rosh Hashana I spoke about what it meant to say hineni in our individual lives. To say I am open to God's presence.  Isaiah says this is what we must do for God to say heninei, for God's presence to be brought into our public life.  When judging ourselves by the scale of Jewish values, we ask not only have we acted with good character, but have we been concerned with the character of our community, our nation?

Isaiah begins with the subject of hunger. When it comes to the subject of hunger, we have an admirable record here at Temple Beth El with nearly 18 years of feeding the homeless every week. Every one of you who backs your fast with a bag of groceries for the second harvest food bank is hearing the voice of Isaiah. Your fast is accompanied by righteous ethical action to feed the hungry.

But what about his next topic, housing? In the past two years we have been a part of a group known as COPA. It is an interfaith group studying our religious values and taking action to fulfill them in our community. Together we represent about 15, 000 people. That raises a social justice voice in the community that matters. One sustained common action we have taken in the name of the synagogue and the churches has been connected to the need for affordable housing. In part through our common cause the county supervisors have enacted a new law. Previously, any land that was converted to housing use required 15% affordable housing. Affordable housing means priced at affordability to a family with a $57,000 income a year. Think about it. This includes many in our congregation, many like teachers and nurses with college education doing vital work. Now, in part through our efforts each development will be not just 15% but 40% affordable housing. As the laws unfolds larger developments will probably have a share for the very lowest level of affordable housing which would be under $30,000 of income a year. This includes members of our community like farm workers who pick the food we eat, nursing home care attendants who administer daily to our beloved elders, and childcare workers to whom we entrust our children. Come to the COPA house meetings publicized in the shofar and add your voice to that of Isaiah’s. What about the fact that money exists in the federal budget to help with subsidizing senior rental housing but the federal department of housing refuses to spend it. Don't we want to talk to congressman Farr and do our part to unblock those budgeted funds to help house the elderly and the disabled?  Then there is Habitat for Humanity. To date as a Temple we have been supporters almost in name only. Who of you will step forward and say, yes I'll help build and help feed the builders and help solicit businesses in the community to fulfill Isaiah's words?

What about health care? Like housing its rising costs affects all of us as well. But for 6 and a quarter million working residents of California without government or private insurance, having  no health insurance shackles them with fear. It chains them to waiting hours in emergency rooms for routine health care. The legislature passed a bill freeing a million and a half of them from the fear of not having enough money for health care and the governor signed it. It set up a system of providing health care through work for businesses of 50 or more employees.  But lobbyists blocked the funding. Proposition 72 says we will not ignore the plight or our own kin, the members even of our own congregation who live in fear of getting sick. The voting booth is a place where Isaiah’s words can resound.

You will hear the words of Isaiah tomorrow morning calling us to life off the yoke of oppression. A yoke is a kind of harness worn by farm animals to plow the fields. It calls to mind how heavy the yoke can be of the farm laborer toiling out in the fields.  We live in an area that has a particularly high concentration of farm workers. They are frequently forced to work in unsafe conditions for inadequate pay. Their five families to a shack would probably even shock Isaiah. Many lacking immigration papers are held hostages like slaves by labor contractors. The Torah tells us that food that comes from exploited labor is not kosher for human consumption. Through our social action committee and particularly under the direction of Kathy Goldenkranz, we have been working with the children of farmworkers at the Golden Torch Trailer Park.  Many do no have indoor plumbing. Our religious school raised enough money to secure for these children’s programs a matching grant from the Jewish Fund for Justice of $1500. So we would able to fund $3000 worth of enrichment in addition to volunteer tutoring. But we need to be involved in the laws that would raise these workers to a wage where they could afford housing with a bathroom. Before the Senate is the Agjobs bill. It has 63 cosponsors; the majority of senators from both parties. Yet it has been held up in the Judiciary Committee by large agrobusiness interests. This week, Senator Larry Craig made a bold move to bring it to a vote. It is now S2823.  But it must pass three affirmative readings and votes to get it on to the floor. What if half of you made the voice of Isaiah heard on the other end of the telephone in Washington on Monday in our Senators offices, asking them to get behind this bill.  It is our job according to our religion to help remove the yolk of oppression of those whose backbreaking toil we rely on for our daily meals?

We are part of the Reform movement in Judaism. One of the chief tenants of Reform Judaism is the importance of the social justice teachings of our tradition. We are part of the Religious Action Center of the Reform Movement, located in Washington, D.C. It’s purpose is to pursue social justice and religious liberty by mobilizing the American Jewish community and serving as an advocate in the nation’s capital. Their website always has the current social justice issues, the Jewish values related to them and recommended actions. It is such a important website for you to check regularly that it is on the home page of our Temple website. All you have to do is go to our website, TempleBethElAptos.org., click on RAC and you can be joining thousands of other Jews who hear Isaiah’s call.

The voice of the prophets speaks not only to our communal life in the disaspora. They speak to the social justice and civil rights of the state of Israel as well. There you can walk in the footsteps of the prophets. You can sit and listen to the history of their voices redounding down to our time. The texts of the prophets are an admissible part of testimony in  Israeli courts of law.

We need to be devoted to support for Israel’s security. Every one of us should be writing to our Congressman and our Senators, thanking them for contributing to America’s strong economic, military and political support for Israel and encouraging them to keep it up. We should be answering terrorism also with our support this year for the local Magen David Adom ambulance drive. But we should also be concerned with Isael’s soul, with her living up to the social justice and civil liberties of her most ardent founders. The majority of Jews within the State of Israel and in America support the erection of the security fence, according to several different polls. The question however is where exactly the fence should run. While security is extremely important, the voice of social and civil justice must be also heard. Many have felt that the fence could intrude less on the fields and homes of innocent Palestinians and still provide a great deal of security. As one who believes both in Israel’s security and spiritual soul, my eyes welled up with tears when I read on July lst in the New York Times, the words of Aharon Barak, the chief justice of the supreme court of Israel. The case before him was a controversy about the route of the security fence.  I quote, “Our task is difficult. We are members of Israeli society. Although we are sometimes in an ivory tower, the tower is in the heart of Jerusalem, which is not infrequently struck by ruthless terror. We are aware of the killing and destruction wrought by terror against the state and its citizens. As any other Israelis, we too recognize the need to defend the country and its citizens against the wounds inflicted by terror. We are aware that in the short term, this judgement will not make the state’s struggle against those rising up against it easier. But we are judges. When we sit in judgment, we are subject to judgment. We act according to our best conscience and understanding. Regarding the state’s struggle against the terror that rises up against it, we are convinced that at the end of the day, a struggle according to the law will strengthen her power and her spirit. There is no security without law.  Satisfying the provisions of the law is an aspect of national security. …This is the destiny of a democracy: she does not see all means as acceptable before her. A democracy must sometimes fight with one arm tied behind her back. Even so, a democracy has the upper hand. The rule of law and individual liberties constitutes an important aspect of her security stance. At the end of the day they strengthen her spirit and this strength allows her to overcome her difficulties…That goes for this case as well. Only a separation fence built on a base of law will grant security to the state and its citizens. Only a separation route based on the path of laws will lead the state to the security so yearned for.”  Testimony included Jewish religious teachings and the input of the Army. With Judge Barak’s words, the Supreme Court of Israel found that the fence should be reconfigured so that it took away fewer homes and orchards and groves of innocent Palestinians along its path. The army, according the recent articles in the New York Times has complied with the ruling of the Supreme Court and has been rerouting the fence. The voice of Isaiah was still heard in the State of Israel on July 1, 2004.

In the past you have heard me mention membership in Artza, the Reform Zionist Organization of America. One of Artza’s projects is the religious action center in Jerusalem. It is dedicated to pursuing in the courts and the Kenesset the rights of all in the Jewish State. It is not enough that we support our Temple’s involvement in social justice in America. For everyone who hears the voice of Isaiah and loves the State of Israel, I urge you to join Artza when you get the email about it from our Social Action Committee this week.

So are personal and social ethics enough? No not according to the words of the prophet Isaiah we’ll hear tomorrow. Isaiah concludes his preaching with these words. “If you turn away from trampling Shabbat, from doing personal business on My holy day; and if you call Shabbat a delight, God’s honored holy day; and if you honor it, abandoning your usual ways, from seeking personal gain and speaking idly—then you will delight in Adonai, and I will enable you to ride on the heights of the earth, and I will feed you the portion of Jacob your father. For the mouth of God has spoken it?” No, social justice is not enough. Without some kind of regular tie to shabbat, our knowledge of our ethics and our encouragement to practice them, falls by the wayside. Yes, we are all over worked and that makes coming to Temple Friday nights more difficult. Saturday mornings too. And yes there is compassion fatigue. We can’t support everything that’s a good cause. But Shabbat is the place where we renew our connection to these teachings. As we read them in our prayer books we are reminded that they are what our religion demands to lead a holy life. We can’t turn away from them. Coming to Temple we can hear the words of the Torah and Prophets taught, applied by your rabbis and often discussed regarding this issue by those in attendance. And you can be motivated by the spirit of prayer and by the spirit of Torah study. Isaiah would say the words that I heard a social action seminar at a Reform rabbinical conference. A congregation that does not have a strong worship community will not have a strong social action program as well. We all need to come to be reminded of these teaching. We all need to come to learn how the teachings of the Torah relate to social justice issues today. We all need to make our individual voices have more impact because they are part of a shared synagogue effort.

We should not get involved as a synagogue in sponsoring a particular candidate or political party. But we cannot remain on the sidelines of social justice. We cannot do everything. But that does not mean that we can’t do something worthwhile. Rabbi Aha quoted Rabbi Tanhum, the son of Rabbi Hiyyah who said, “Though a person may be a scholar of Torah and a teacher of great renown, careful in observing all the ritual commandments, if such a person is able to protest wrongdoing and neglects to do so, he is called a curse.” A Torah Commentary for Our Times, Harvey J. Fields Volume III, UAHC PRESS, New York, New York.

Housing, hunger, health care, civil rights, social justice. Come to Copa social justice dialogue evenings that are publicized in the Shofar and personally strengthen our social justice efforts. Respond to social action committee emails. Even better, call me and join the social action committee. Become a member of Artza or the New Israel Fund to strengthen democracy and social justice in the Jewish State. Regularly check the Religious Action Center Web Site that you can go to with one click on the home page of our Temple we site. Make Shabbat services more a part of your life to keep up your spiritual motivation. Isaiah’s words will be heard tomorrow morning on this bima. May we answer, their call.  Amen.

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