Rabbi's Keynote

December 2006

Dear Friends:

Over the weekend of Nov. 10-12, I was away in Orlando participating in the biennial conference of the Southeastern region of the Union for Reform Judaism. I was learning, along with approximately 300 other delegates, about problems, opportunities, and best practices among Reform Jewish congregations across our region and throughout the country.

One of the most interesting sessions was the keynote address delivered by Rabbi David Saperstein, Executive Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. The conference took place, remember, in the days immediately following the mid-term elections in which Democrats took control of both houses of Congress. And Rabbi Saperstein knew he was speaking to an overwhelmingly Democratic, liberal audience. Yet his message was hardly one of triumph or gloating. We needed to remember, he said, that it was only unity among Jewish Democrats and Jewish Republicans that has ever succeeded in truly influencing American policy. It was unified Jewish support that had helped advance the civil rights movement in the 60's, unified Jewish support that had won consistent American support for Israel in the 70's, unified Jewish support that had helped free Soviet Jews in the 80's, etc. When Jewish conservatives or Jewish liberals have gone in their own, independent directions, Rabbi Saperstein reminded us, both have been largely irrelevant to the larger political process.

Rabbi Saperstein's words of caution are very well taken in the national political realm, and equally important, I believe, in the humble realm of our local congregations. The changes that succeed are not imposed by rabbis or by narrow constituencies within a congregation. The changes that succeed emerge from within, when a congregation is ready for change and clearly understands its importance. This makes the pace of change maddeningly slow sometimes. It would be much easier to issue a decree than to patiently build toward consensus and the resolve for action.

I believe that the possibility for serious change that confronts Temple Shir Shalom right now is the decision we can make, or not make, to become a more institutionally mature and developed congregation. Temple has almost 150 member families right now, a number that comes close to demanding a more organized way of doing business. But perhaps we are not yet at the point of consensus and action. Maybe the time is not yet ripe for Temple Shir Shalom; maybe it is simply not in our nature to want the responsibilities of becoming a bigger congregation. That would be a perfectly respectable decision, to stay much as we are. We have many, many things to cherish and be proud of at Shir Shalom. Change can come only from our members. This change, if we want it, can be lasting and complete only when it is important enough to our members. This change will break us if it is only I who push for it, or even if it is only our Board of Directors. It is your voices that really count – the voices of the members of Temple Shir Shalom. So please let your voices be heard.

Yours truly,

Rabbi Michael Joseph

Temple Shir Shalom
3855 NW 8th Avenue
Gainesville, FL  32605
352-371-6399; cell 352-562-9723
rabbijoseph@shirshalom.net