On Wednesday evening this past week, we celebrated Simchat Torah and Consecration. Sharon Wechter, Religious School Director, and Ricki Komiss, Head of The Shlenker School, and their group of excellent educators brought the children to the bemah where I stood with Rabbi Scott, Rabbi Miller and Cantor Gerber, before the Holy Ark. There our youngest students received their Torahs and they recited the Shema. The children were remarkably well-behaved and full of spirit. This new beginning coincides with the start of the Torah reading cycle in Genesis, chapter 1, verse 1. You know how it begins.
Following this important evening in their Jewish life many years will pass. The next time so many cameras will be focused on them will be at their first music or dance recitals, at their first little league games. And, it will be nearly 13 years later when we see them again on the bemah for their formal rite of passage into Jewish “adult” life. The traditional blessing that Jewish parents used to recite at their sons’ bar mitzvah was, “Thank you God, for relieving me of the responsibility of this one.” There was a day when Jewish adulthood really meant that our young men (and women) took hold of their own destinies. Today, it’s our hope that a little Judaism might stick to them, and it’s their hope that among their gifts is a new cell-phone. Even if the only text-messages are from friends sitting not two feet away from them, they see it as a perfect symbol of coming-of-age.
As family-time grows more precious to us, we have to decide what demands we’re going to place on our children and on us. We have a lot to choose from: sports, academics, Jewish studies, music, etc. Let me offer a little counsel, as it’s my habit to do. All of the above are important. But, I’ll emphasize that a particular Jewish view on the world that comes from a strong Jewish education is not as “parochial” as you might think. Data shows that our children who really know who they are as Jews, religiously and culturally, perform better in the larger world than our children who have only a casual understanding. When they leave for college they will likely encounter young adults who know much more about their own faith tradition than our children know about theirs. If they have answers in their pocket and resources they trust, then they’ll likely rely on what they believe, personally, and can do for themselves in the Jewish community.
I’ll never forget my freshman year in college when someone said to me, “You know, David, you’d make a fine Christian.” I turned and said to him, matter-of-factly, “You know, you’d make a fine Jew.” Years later, when I was serving in the congregation, a visiting Christian group asked me, “Rabbi, do you believe that Christianity is the only true religion?” I paused for a moment and replied, “I believe that Christianity is the only true religion for a Christian.” I added, “Judaism is the only true religion for a Jew.” The group appreciated the answer for its honesty and clarity. My ability to answer didn’t come from rabbinic training; it came from early roots from my own Reform Jewish education. I can value another person’s faith tradition when it also honors mine.
That small Torah we handed the children this past week came with a huge promise from you and me. We’re supposed to prepare them for the day when they meet friends on the college campus who question them and debate them on their religious beliefs. We’re supposed to prepare them to choose a partner in life who values their Jewish roots and makes a commitment to the Jewish future.
At Beth Israel, we welcome and embrace everyone who supports children’s Jewish education. The Shlenker Day School and Beth Israel’s Religious School and Hebrew School are excellent partners that help you keep your promise to your children (and to yourself) that began on Simchat Torah with the first verse of Torah, “In the beginning (when God began creating)…” May we keep our promise to them well beyond Bar and Bat Mitzvah, and for as long as God may bless us.
From my desk to yours, Shabbat Shalom.
__________________________________________________
Contact Rabbi Lyon