Congregation Emanu-El of Westchester: Sermon Archives

Kol Nidre Comments

You all know the story that on Yom Kippur our future is written. I would like to use a few minutes tonight to catalyze a process where each of us contributes a line to write the future of our congregation. Yes I know the old story where you need 3 temples for every 2 Jews, but I am willing to take the risk.

I would like to do two things tonight. Tell you about what the board has been thinking about the future and provide multiple channels for you to engage in the process of building that future. Your Board has spent a great deal of time over the past year or so thinking about what we can do to further our mission. We began with an in depth survey of congregants and several focus groups. I think our mission over the next several years will have three major parts.

First, programming. Our temple can be a touchpoint for many of our spiritual, cultural, educational and philanthropic interests amidst the swirling uncertainty around us. We will strengthen and broaden our educational, cultural and artistic programs to appeal to every segment of our congregation. For example, every synagogue focuses on educating our children. We do too, but it turns out many of us did not learn all we could when we went to Hebrew school. So we will also focus on developing more programs to engage grown ups as well. We will expand our social action agenda. Programs like our Mitzvah Day provide sought after channels to meet our interest in giving something back to our community. We may even consider expanding our social hall into a Jewish life center to support these expanded activities.

Second, community. Our temple is a work in progress. It is the sum of each of our congregants and their particular points of contact with the temple. By definition, both are continually changing. We need to work together to build the community we seek here. Our goal should be far reaching. We can be a center for an inclusive Jewish life. In order to do that we need to reach out to potential new members and invite them to taste what we have to offer. Let me give you an example, I am one half of an interfaith marriage. Long before we became members of the congregation when our children were born we met Rabbi Wolk and he agreed to lead a naming ceremony for each of them. His openness, encouragement and sincerity are one reason we are here today. Each of us in our own way can reach out to people we know who share our values and could become part of our congregation. I am not suggesting that our temple expand greatly in size but that we maintain the breadth to offer a wide range of programs in an intimate setting.

Third, we will develop a long term plan to support these initiatives. We need to ensure that the initiatives we undertake are successful and sustainable. This is our link between each other and between the generations.

While these may be good ideas the question is how will we move them from ideas to reality. We will change the way we operate. Our goal is to be more open and more efficient. Committees in each area will be cochaired by board members and non- board members. The committees will be responsible for developing action plans that will then be approved by the Board and executed. Membership of the committees will be mostly interested congregants. This is not something we can delegate to others. We now need your ideas, your input, your time and your commitment and your execution. Please feel free to give me or anyone on our staff a call. We are happy to meet with you and to learn about your individual views. If this sounds a lot more like how developing companies work in the private sector, it is not a complete coincidence.

We begin in a good place. We benefit from the legacy of the many wonderful leaders who preceded us. Now we need to add our chapter of the legacy for us and for those who will come after us. We will all write our own line into the future of the congregation. We will also write our own line into our future as Jews. The world is full of challenges right now but it is also full of opportunities. In my mind, we have three essential choices. We can ignore the challenges and deny what goes on around us. History suggests this does not work very well. We can let fear dominate our decision making. Historically this often results in treating the symptoms of issues rather than the disease. Or we can take the attention that has been directed towards our identity as Jews as a result of 9/11 and the increases in global anti-semitism and turn it into a more active, vibrant and ultimately stronger Jewish community. My belief is that if we do this, we will meet our commitment to ourselves, to this synagogue and maybe even to history itself.

I understand that this is not a simple or quick process. Like all journeys it will be the sum of many small steps. Like all journeys it is often more about the trip then the destination. Like all journeys it is important to begin. Let's begin tonight.