The Woodbury Jewish Center... Bar Mitzvah Year
May 11, 2002

On April 21, our synagogue held a gala celebration of its bar mitzvah, its 13th birthday. That was not the right occasion for my sermonic reflections on the significance of those 13 years, but they are something I have wanted to share with the congregation. Today's torah portion provides the perfect text and context for those reflections.

The torah reading describes the three basic functions of the Levites who were the assistants to the Cohanim, the religious leaders of the Israelite people. First of all the Levites assumed overall charge of the Tabernacle, the portable sanctuary used by the Israelites their wanderings in the wilderness (Num 1:50). Their second task was to dismantle, carry and then re?assemble the Tabernacle each time the Israelites moved from place to place in the wilderness. And their third assignment was to set up their camp around the Tabernacle to protect its sanctity.

These functions are important to you and me not only as a piece of the past. They serve as a paradigm for us today as Jews committed to the vitality of the synagogue and as advocates of the synagogue's centrality to Jewish life.

What does it mean for us to take charge of the sanctuary as the Levites did in the past? Taking charge implies a willingness to dig in and work. Present at our synagogue's bar mitzvah year celebration were many of the people who nursed and guided the Woodbury Jewish Center during its infancy. It is not easy to find people like them who made unbelievable sacrifices with regard to their time and energies to making the Woodbury Jewish Center a reality.

If a synagogue is to fulfil its sacred mandate to perpetuate the religious life of the Jewish people, it needs a strong cadre of volunteers who will roll up their sleeves and work. The Woodbury Jewish Center is fortunate to have had - and to still have - many committed and capable volunteers. But, as our President, Abraham Zelkin, and our various committee chairs will readily admit, we need many more. So let us follow the model of the Levites and dig in and help our congregation achieve its vital religious, social and educational objectives.

The second task of the Levites was to set up and take down the portable sanctuary each time the Israelites moved to a new camping area. They had to keep the Tabernacle moving with the people. Today, too, a congregation is not a static entity. Generations change, times change, values change. The synagogue must change, too, because, otherwise, it loses touch with the people.

Many of the early members of the Woodbury Jewish Center became involved in establishing a new congregation because they had belonged to synagogues where women were allowed only a limited role. The founders of our congregation believed that a woman's role in the synagogue should reflect the egalitarian nature of American society today. They wanted a congregation where men and women would have equal responsibilities and equal opportunities to participate in every aspect of synagogue life.

Making changes in tradition, however, must be done with great care. A synagogue forfeits its role as guardian of the past and of sacred values if it merely dittos each trend and fashion of society. As a congregation pledged to the ideology of the Conservative Movement, we recognize the gravity of thought that goes into deciding what to change or whether to change as we strive to create a harmonious blend of modernity and tradition. We are not afraid of making changes that will enhance our enjoyment of Jewish life. But they must be anchored in halacha, in Jewish law, as interpreted by the rabbinic leadership of our movement.

There is one more task of the Levites relevant to us today. The Torah tells us that the Levites were to guard the Tabernacle. They were to protect it. But what was there to guard? The Tabernacle was basically an empty tent. What filled it were intangible things: the prayers, thoughts, and hopes of the people. Yet, may we not assume that this was precisely what they were to protect? And is this not our task today, to safeguard the beliefs, the rituals, the cherished ideals of the Jewish people by promoting them among ourselves and in our community. Is this not why thirteen years ago a synagogue was established in Woodbury? ...to bring Torah to this place? However vaguely it may have been articulated, the purpose for starting this congregation was to involve Jews in learning about their religious heritage and to nurture them as they explored ways to make Jewish holidays, traditions and rituals meaningful for themselves, their peers and their children.

In assessing our response as congregants to the needs of the synagogue, the torah offers us one paradigm - that of the Levites. Another paradigm may be found in a small pamphlet called, "Emet V'Emunah," which outlines the ideology of Conservative Judaism. In it is a spiritual portrait of the ideal Jew. It describes this person as a "learning Jew, a striving Jew and a willing Jew." A willing Jew because Jewish commitment involves a desire to "refract all aspects of life through the prism of one's Jewishness. A learning Jew because one cannot be whole as a Jew without commitment to the serious and on-going study of Jewish history, Jewish thought and sacred Jewish texts. And a striving Jew because our spiritual development and growth demand an openness to Jewish observances one has yet to make a part of one's life.

I see as the primary agenda of our congregation creating as many ideal Jews as we can. By doing so, we can boast that the Woodbury Jewish Center's physical beauty is matched by an inner spiritual strength. A strength that derives from our commitment to the religious traditions and ethical aspirations of the Jewish people. May the momentum of our bar mitzvah year energize our strivings to become a kehila kidosha, a congregation characterized by three traits: Jews who are willing to confront life's challenges guided by the moral vision of our faith, Jews who are devoted to constantly learning more about their heritage, and Jews who incorporate each year something new of Jewish tradition into their lives. What wonderful goals to strive for in our post bar mitzvah years.

Shabbat Shalom