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RABBINIC REFLECTION BY RABBI michael berk
Our Journey Together Began Six Months Ago
January 2008
The middle of January will mark my first six months as senior rabbi of CBI. It has been an amazing six months and I’m happy to report to you how thrilled Aliza and I are to be here. My experiences are fulfilling all my dreams of what it would be like to throw my lot in with the men, women and children of this historic congregation. I am proud to be your rabbi.
What I’m most excited about is the fulfillment of the hope I had of becoming close to you. One of the primary reasons I returned to the pulpit was for the oppotunity to help others realize that our lives are a sacred journey. It has meant everything to me to begin sharing this life journey with you.
I think of this now because in our Shabbat Torah reading and study we are finishing the Book of Genesis–the story of our family, the Jewish people and how we got started on the journey God set out for us. It began with Abraham and Sarah, true heroes of the spirit, whose bravery in accepting God’s challenge to embark on a spiritual journey continues to inspire us.
What does Genesis teach us about sacred journeys? After eating the forbidden fruit in the garden, Adam and Eve are hiding as God asks them the very first question in the Bible. "Ayecha? Where are you?" This is an existential question none of us can evade. Where are you? How far along on your journey are you? What have you learned? What do you still have to learn?
Abraham, the first Jew, gets it. He hears God say to him, "Lech lecha...Go forth..." Abraham understands that, at its very core, his life is a journey. A journey must be open-ended. It can’t be fully scripted. There must be room for surprise, for new developments, for growth. The Torah is very clear that Abraham’s charge is to go not to an exact place, but to the land that God will show him. When the time is right he will know where he is to go. When he finally gets going on his journey the Torah tells us "Vayisa Avram haloch ve-nasoa hanegbah." Avram journeyed here and there, trying this path and that, working his way through the Negev until he understood where he needed to go.
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This is what we are all challenged to do in our lives – to be heroes of the spirit like Abraham; to stay open and not have our journeys all figured out.
As your rabbi, I want to help you recognize that God’s presence in your life means that you will be presented from time to time with covenantal challenges. You won’t always know where your journey will lead but God will show you the way. When the time is right, you will know where you have to go, what decision you have to make. You will work through your Negev until you understand where you need to go.
It is a beautiful thing to see your life as a journey during which you are challenged from time to time. I felt that way when deciding to change everything in my life to apply for the position of senior rabbi here. It was a covenantal challenge God presented me. I felt challenged to return to synagogue life. With modesty I will tell you that I feel that God has granted me a particular range of skills, opportunities and learning that have prepared me to be here. I hope that you, and God, feel that I’m rising to the challenges of this part of my life’s journey.
Abraham and Sarah were heroes of the spirit who teach us to find the paths that we have to walk. Sometimes this means accepting the call towards holiness, growth and change. To hear God’s question – "Where are you?" And to answer, "Hinneni...Here I am. I stand ready to take on some new responsibility, some new challenge, some new task."
Our journey together started six months ago. It’s just beginning. I pray for the strength and wisdom to inspire each of you to see the opportunities and challenges you will face in life as covenantal challenges. And I hope and pray that together we can learn to respond, and that God will find that we were not asleep or coasting, and that at least every once in a while we walked on new paths.
Rabbi Michael Berk
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