Rosh Hashanah Evening Sermon

September 26, 2003  

Repairing this World

Rabbi Anthony D. Holz

 We now begin ten special days in our community. Let me welcome you all to our Moja festivities.

 Oops! Welcome everybody to our High Holy Day season. It has been an eventful year. If there is one message I would bring to you it is that as American citizens and as members of this congregation, we do not live in isolation and will all do best by reaching out to help build a wider circle of hope for a better world.

 As Jews, our strongest emotional connection with events in the Middle East is with our Jewish brothers and sisters, cousins and friends who live in Israel. Last November, four of us from KKBE were part of a group of two dozen Charlestonians who went to Israel on a solidarity mission. A year later, the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians is still ongoing. During the last year, the Bush administration gave strong verbal support for what it called a “Roadmap” to peace. Unfortunately, however, verbal support alone is inadequate. President  Bush made it clear that the Palestinians and Israelis would have to negotiate agreements, and that it would be the role of the United States government to “ride herd” on both parties to make sure that they followed through on their commitments. During the last year, there were some weeks when things looked better. But the Israelis as well as the Palestinians did not follow through on their commitments, and the United States did nothing substantive to “ride herd” on both parties. So the suicide murders  and shootings have continued without serious efforts by the Palestinian authority to halt them, at least until the recent Israelis threats to expel Arafat. And the Israelis have continued to expand occupation in the disputed areas, while building a wall that reduces land available to Palestinians. And, the United States apparently does nothing. Movement in this impasse depends on the United States acting to help both parties move beyond death and deadlock.

 In a Middle Eastern world of Arab dictatorships and economic stagnation, there is no substitute for active and forceful involvement by the world’s only super power. However unsettling and sad are the loss of the lives of American service personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan, after September 11, 2001, isolationism is not a meaningful direction for the United States. And the active and lasting involvement of America is essential in moving the Israelis, the Palestinians, and the Arab societies in general in more constructive directions.

 If events in the Middle East have continued to provoke anxiety and concern, at least we here in Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim have had a remarkably exciting and positive year, the culmination of several years of hard work and dedication.  But, whether we are talking about American foreign policy or our future directions as a congregation here in the low country, in both cases involvement, not isolation is the most constructive path for us to take.

 The last year,  5763 in the Jewish calendar, has truly been a culminating year, following upon several years of hard work and dedication by many. In noteworthy ways, we at KKBE planned, followed through and achieved. More than fifty percent of our congregation participated in a capital campaign. Three congregants who are architects found ways of working together to produce beautiful and functional new facilities. We now have our first professional Jewish Education Director. There are many more specifics that could be mentioned, but in general it is safe to say that our diverse congregation has found how to manage big changes in ways that create wonderful new opportunities for this Jewish congregation. KKBE is not only historic, but bustling and lively.

 The advent of a new Jewish year, reminds us that the past is prologue. There is much for us to do, perhaps even more for us to do in the future than in our rich past. Among unfinished tasks is our responsibility to adequately recognize all those who made the exciting changes of the past few years possible. And, beyond this, we deserve a KKBE Museum which links the place and the people who have been here with the larger Jewish and general world of which we have been and continue to be a contributing part.

 And with renovated facilities, new staff and re-invigorated energies, we clearly need to re-invent ourselves as a congregation. Let us always remember that we are a Reform Congregation, never a reformed congregation. And, in a world where isolationism is harmful to American interests,  let us as modern Jews remind ourselves that we too are part of a larger world. Or, as Hillel put it 2000 years ago, “If I am for myself alone, what am I?” Given that our congregational mission is to serve through programs involving education, worship and “The ongoing quest for greater justice, peace and acts of lovingkindness,” a  major part of our unfinished business has to do with our activities in the larger world. There simply is no substitute for greater involvement by all of us in the concerns of the larger world in which we live. For some, Israel and the welfare of Israelis and helping the movement towards a more productive and peaceful Middle East may be a top priority. For others helping the struggling Reform Jewish communities in the lands of the former Soviet Union may be compelling. Do you know that there are now more Reform Jewish congregations in Russia than anywhere else outside of North America?

For those who seek to make a difference beyond the Jewish community, in Charleston, we have people who are homeless and hungry. Our food drive needs the active support of all of our members. If, at this High Holy Day season, each woman, man and child brought two bags of food as a contribution to our food drive, that would really help.

 Beyond this, for our own self-esteem we all surely need to find ways of constructive engagement in the process of building a better world. 

As a way of illustrating directions in which we might move, let me both tell you about my personal involvement with a local organization and  report to you on aspects of another trip I took this last year.

 Since last Rosh Hashanah I have helped form a group called Low-Country Aid to Africa. LCAA, a coalition of individuals and organizations in the Charleston area that try to make a difference for good in the African continent.

 Last January when I went to visit my mother in Cape Town, this group encouraged me to inquire about possible projects for our attention. My sister, who is a doctor in Cape Town, put me in touch with Helen Lieberman,  a remarkable, brave, compassionate and effective Jewish woman . During the years of the South African Apartheid regime she had some difficulties with the government authorities. After the end of the Apartheid years Mrs. Lieberman founded a not- for -profit South African organization called Ikamva Labantu (the future of our nation). While in Cape Town I met  with Mrs. Lieberman and the managing director of Ikamva. When I returned here, Low Country Aid to Africa (our Charleston organization),  took several months to consider a number of possible alternatives. Eventually we decided to support a specific program of Ikamva, a program that focuses on families which have been so devastated by the AIDS pandemic that the adults have all died and children are heading the household. LCAA, whose general chair is Ms. Lucille Whipper, has undertaken to raise funds for 25 home based care-givers and two supervisors. The home based care-givers would be trained individuals working in the community: bathing, feeding and helping with all the chores needed in vulnerable situations. This is the project that Low Country Aid to Africa has undertaken. And during the current Moja festival, LCAA is reaching out to members of the African-American community for help in reaching this goal. I personally wish that we Jews would also play a significant part in this project.  I also see this as a meaningful way to build bridges between the Jewish and African-American communities in South Carolina.

To get a sense of the urgency of the South African plight,

Let me quote words of Helen Lieberman, from her letter of this last July.

“May I share with you one of the cases I saw. I saw an emaciated grandmother soon to die with six little ones (ages 3 through 14) both parents having died as well. They are living in squalor, terribly hungry with no support. We cannot wait until these children become orphans-we have to act now and bath, feed, school, support and nurture this situation and help these children before and after the dreaded moment. For all the human and practical reasons we have to start working with the danger signs of vulnerable situations earlier and set up support mechanisms for families before an orphan situation eventuates.”

 If I have gone on at some length about this particular situation, I ask for you indulgence. As you can see, I care deeply about  the many thousands of families affected by the tragedy in my native land and want to help in real ways.

 Members of our newly formed Social Action Committee are exploring ways in which KKBE congregants and other Jews might be involved. If this or other ways of making a difference for good appeal to you, become involved with our Social Action Committee. Surely one of the  distinguishing characteristics  of Reform Judaism is our emphasis on social action

 Certainly, the recent visit of Rabbi David Saperstein, the director of Reform Judaism’s Religious Action Center was timely. As our Scholar-In-Residence, Rabbi Saperstein paraphrased the words of the biblical Mordecai to Esther, when Esther was reluctant to act. Perhaps we American Jews with all our affluence and societal acceptance have been put into our fortunate situation for the purpose of helping others in need?

 Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim has its own methods of arriving at decisions. During this year of culminating achievement, we have seen how effectively these decision-making processes can operate. As we begin a new year, it is my hope and prayer that the members of this great congregation will turn their energies and best efforts not only to internal and local affairs, but to Tikkun Olam, repairing this world. And, if not now, when? Amen