Rabbi Jerry H. Seidler

G'mar Chatimah Tovah, may you all be sealed for blessing in the Book of Life on this Yom Kippur Day of Atonement.

This evening, our Temple President spoke passionately about supporting our synagogue financially. I have every confidence that you will in the days, weeks and months ahead. Our congregation needs this support, and our building most definitely needs this support. Financial support, material support, is what Torah has in mind when it says in Deuteronomy to love God uv'khol m'odekha, with all your everything, with all of your stuff. Kathy and I will also contribute in this way, since this is our Jewish community, too.

But, I want to stress something else that is of equal importance. Tomorrow morning, we are going to read from another section of Deuteronomy, from Parshat N'tzavim. It contains one of the most daunting teachings in the whole Torah. We learn that God's instruction is not too obscure as to be hidden from us, nor too isolated as to be beyond our reach.

It is not in heaven, that you should say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it to us, that we may hear it, and do it?

Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it to us, that we may hear it, and do it?

But the matter is very near to you, in your mouth, and in your heart, that you ought do it.

Amazing! It is not in heaven, says the Torah. What does that mean? The Talmud at Baba Metzia 59a explains in a famous Midrash ostensibly about how to kasher a serpentine refractory bricked oven, the oven of Aknai. Rabbi Eliezer the Great said one thing, and the Sages said another. They could not agree with each other, and Rabbi Eliezer refused to compromise.

It has been taught: On that day Rabbi Eliezer brought forward every imaginable argument, but they did not accept them.

Said he to them: ‘If the halachah agrees with me, let this carob-tree prove it!'

Thereupon the carob-tree was torn a hundred cubits out of its place; others affirm, four hundred cubits.

‘No proof can be brought from a carob-tree,' they retorted.

Again he said to them: ‘If the halachah agrees with me, let the stream of water prove it!'

Whereupon the stream of water flowed backwards

‘No proof can be brought from a stream of water,' they rejoined.

Again he urged: ‘If the halachah agrees with me, let the walls of the schoolhouse prove it,' whereupon the walls inclined to fall.

But Rabbi Joshua rebuked them, saying: ‘When scholars are engaged in a halachic dispute, what (right) have you to interfere?'

Hence they did not fall, in honor of Rabbi Joshua, nor did they resume the upright (position), in honor of Rabbi Eliezer; and they are still standing thus inclined.

Again he said to them: ‘If the halachah agrees with me, let it be proved from Heaven!'

Whereupon a Heavenly Voice cried out: ‘Why do you dispute with Rabbi Eliezer, seeing that in all matters the halachah agrees with him!'

But Rabbi Joshua arose and exclaimed: ‘It is not in heaven.'

What did he mean by this?

Said Rabbi Jeremiah: That the Torah had already been given at Mount Sinai; we pay no attention to a Heavenly Voice, because You have long since written in the Torah at Mount Sinai, "After the majority must one incline."

Rabbi Nathan met Elijah the Prophet and asked him: What did the Holy Blessed One do in that hour?

God laughed, he replied, saying, ‘My children have defeated Me, My children have defeated Me.

Rabbis have been spinning this Midrash for centuries. What is the ikkar, the essential meaning of this teaching, it is not in heaven? Only this: Judaism is our responsibility, not God's, not the angels' and no one else's. That is why I say this teaching, it is not in heaven, is so daunting. Yet, it is so very rewarding as well.

Our ancient rabbis taught us that Judaism is our sacred responsibility. More precisely, it is the responsibility of Jew to say what Judaism is, and what Jewish is. God does not tell us; rabbis don't tell us. Believe me. God and rabbis can say all they want, but everyone here tonight knows all too well that each of us is going to do things our own way for our own reasons. I like this; I don't like that. My family does it this way. I believe this; I don't believe that. And you know what? Do our differences keep us apart? Does the fact that this one will fast all 25 hours and that one will go out and have bacon and eggs for breakfast in the morning drive a wedge between us? Look around. We are together tonight. I challenge us all: let us continue to be together as Jews, as human beings.

Judaism and Jewish have always been rich, full, multiple and varied. Our pluralism, our flexibility, our welcoming of change and newness and difference, have all served to preserve our heritage so that it is alive today. I am here to tell you that this is why I am here at Temple Sinai, and why it is that I am a rabbi in the Reconstructionist Movement of Judaism.

The concept "it is not in heaven" is deeply Jewish and deeply Reconstructionist. Reconstructionism is not some new-fangled, new-age gimmick. It reflects what has been the life blood of Judaism: not God, not Torah, not acts of loving kindness. Reconstructionist Judaism is about the people, not the individual, not the self, but the family, the community, the collective. Of course Reconstructionist Judaism is of God, Torah, and acts of loving kindness, and is for the individual and the self. But without the group, none of these is achievable, none of these is knowable, none of these has meaning, none of these has vitality. Reconstructionist Judaism is about how we as separate selves, with our individual yearnings and hopes come together for the spiritual betterment of each one, each other and the world. Reconstructionist Judaism is about the radical notion that as a diverse group working and celebrating and studying and praying and living together amidst our differences, we can one day achieve the elusive dream of salvation, a life of meaning, a life of peace, a life of justice, a life of love, a life of compassion, a life lived with a smile.

Not all Reconstructionist Jewish communities are the same. Each one is informed by its people, their lives, their experiences, their creativity. In typical Reconstructionist fashion, Temple Sinai dares to blend traditions with modernity. Temple Sinai dares to partner with a Conservative synagogue in the education of our children, dares to join with Reform synagogues in holiday worship and dares to share the education of our teens with the entire Buffalo Jewish community through the Bureau of Jewish Education. More inter-Movement and inter-faith partnerships are in the offing as well they should. We are not parochial, and we are proud of it.

Yet, we at Temple Sinai are very much in an "it is not in heaven" liminal moment. I am not here referring to the rabbinic transition. We are going to work through that just fine, and have been. I am talking about a natural shift in official and unofficial Temple leadership and participation in the life our Temple community.

In Reconstructionist Judaism, the gateway to Jewish living is belonging. I am a fan of the concept of simply being there, because just by showing up something wonderful has happened. But, in order for there to be something to show up for requires people who want to belong to a community, people who want to hold all kinds of events, happenings, programs, classes, services, sessions, activities -- the stuff of time and personal commitment. There is so much opportunity for people to step us and plan and do things at Temple Sinai, in accordance with our liberal Jewish values. I as a rabbi, Penny Myers as a cantorial soloist, Sue Hessenthaler as the head of the Gesher Religious School, Marina Finkelstein as President of Women's Club, among others, can do only so much. Do we want a men's club, and if so what would it be like? Do we want Jewish youth groups that are fun and inculcate our liberal Jewish values? Do we want to grow our membership and take even better care of our people? Do we want to pray with our feet, as Rabbi Heschel used to say, and get together to do personal Jewish charitable work with those here in Buffalo who need our compassion? Do we want to offer lectures and classes and other programs on different matters of Jewish interest by a wide-ranging assortment of religious and secular presenters? I have a little list said KoKo in the Mikado, one of my favorite high school roles. My list as Rabbi is long. And I bet you have your own of what you would like to see Temple Sinai do and be part of. I am here tonight to pledge to you that there is room for you here at Temple Sinai to do it.

It is not in heaven. Heaven will not do it for us. Only we can do it for ourselves and for each other. Belonging to Jewish community, participating in Jewish activities of all kinds, sharing our life's joys and sorrows and hopes and fears -- this is Reconstructionist Judaism in action.

While Roger Cominsky is asking you to pledge financially tonight, I am asking you to dig even deeper. I am asking you to pledge yourselves. I am asking you to have faith that Judaism can touch you in ways you have forgotten or perhaps never has before. I am asking you to have faith that God will touch you, that Torah will touch you, and that by touching other lives not only will they be touched, but you will be changed forever because you have saved an entire world. I am asking you to belong and to participate. I am asking you to share of yourselves. I am asking you to go to the next level and keep our Jewish traditions alive, not because there was a Holocaust or because there is anti-Semitism, but because Judaism can and will enable you to live a better life, and can and will improve the condition of our world.

The RaMBaM of the Twelfth Century taught: Ani ma'amin be'emunah sheleimah be'viat ha mashiach, v'af al pi she'yitmameha im kol zeh achake lo bechol yom she'yavo: I believe with a perfect faith in the coming of the Messiah, and even though the Messiah may tarry, I will wait until the day the Messiah may arrive. However, dear friends, I am hear to let you in on a secret: Each of you is the Messiah, and I will be here and I will wait for you. Because I know, and so do you, that it is not in heaven.

God bless you all for a long, healthy, prosperous and generous life.

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Rabbi Jerry H. Seidler is the rabbi of Temple Sinai, Amherst, NY.