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RABBINIC REFLECTION BY RABBI michael berk
July 2007
God says, "Who has ever come into a synagogue and has not found my glory there?"
"And not only that," said Rabbi Aibu, "But if you...are in a synagogue, God stands by you."
— (Psalm 82) Midrash Deuteronomy Rabbah, Ki Tavo 7:2
This month my wife Aliza and I are joining you, the community of Congregation Beth Israel. We do so with great joy, excitement and anticipation. We feel such gratitude to God and to you, for the opportunity to serve this community and make it our home.
I have spent an enormous amount of time preparing for this journey. The search, which concluded in May with my election as rabbi, was a thorough and rigorous process. Since then, I have shared with your staff and leaders many of my dreams and visions for what a congregation can be and they have shared theirs with me. Essentially, we all want the same thing. We want everyone who comes to our temple to feel God's glory, God's presence.
What does that mean? To me, it means when you come to CBI, you will be warmly welcomed. When you come to learn, our learning will be engaging and relevant. When you come to celebrate, our celebrations will be joyous and moving. When we worship together, our prayers will be lively and inspirational. It means that our community at CBI cares for you and supports you in times of need and sadness. Our community shares its responsibilities to heal the world. Our community is a kehillah kedoshah, a sacred community which draws you in, challenges you, comforts you, helps you connect to the holiness of life — a community in which you can feel the presence of God next to you.
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Later this summer, we will read in the Torah from the Book of Deuteronomy about the journey each Israelite was to make to the Temple to bring offerings of thanksgiving to God. As the offerings were given, these words were spoken: "I declare this day to the Lord my God that I have entered the land which the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us." The rabbis in the Midrash understood the joy with which these words were recited, so filled with gratitude were the Israelites for their God-given gifts. When the Temple was destroyed, the Jewish people felt bereft of the one place they could come to thank God. Our rabbis, however, taught us not to despair — the same joy can be experienced by those who enter the synagogues of the Jewish people.
We bring our gifts to the temple, just as the Israelites brought their gifts to the Temple in Jerusalem. The greatest gift you can bring to our temple is the gift of yourself. Come to the temple. Every single one of you is precious and important to me, Cantor Bernstein, Rabbi Ettman, the rest of the staff and the leaders of CBI. Come to the temple and help us build on the accomplishments and achievements of an illustrious 146-year history as we move forward into a new and exciting chapter.
Like our ancestors, Aliza and I have done some wandering before coming to CBI. The experiences and positions we've held, all we've learned and our love of the synagogue are the gifts we bring to CBI. My life as a rabbi has been devoted to synagogue community — more specifically, to the men, women and children who are members of the synagogue. And now I devote myself to you and my fondest wish is simply to become your rabbi. That's not something that happened just because your leaders searched and found me, or because we signed a contract. I can only become your rabbi over time, with your help and with your trust. It's a relationship that we will create and deepen together. To do this, I need to get to know you and therefore, much of my time at CBI initially will be devoted to connecting with you. I ask you to take advantage of the opportunities for us to meet and to share with me your dreams and hopes for our synagogue.
Shehechiyanu vekimanu vehigianu: God is good and has given us the opportunity to experience God's presence together in the sacred community in San Diego known as Beth Israel, "The House of Israel." Aliza and I come to this community like our ancestors before us who entered Jerusalem, awed by the beauty of the Temple, feeling God's presence in sacred community. Come, let us enter CBI, the beautiful temple and congregation in San Diego and together find the glory of God and the beauty and joy of sacred community.
Rabbi Michael Berk
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