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>> Rosh Hashanah rabbinic messages
From Narrow Places To Wide Open Spaces
E
mbedded in the verse from Psalms
(118:5) that we recite on Rosh
Hashanah just before blowing the
shofar is a special message for our Detroit
Jewish community this year. It reads:
"Meen ha-meytzar karati Yah
Aneyni va-merchav Yah."
It is translated as: "In distress I called
on the Lord/The Lord answered me and
brought me relief." (JPS Tanach)
However, the word "meytzar" also
means "narrow places" in both a literal
and a figurative sense. (Jastrow Dictionary,
page 828). The name Detroit — which
is French in origin (detroit), also means
a narrow place" or "a strait between two
larger bodies of water." Of course, being
in a "narrow place" for any length of time,
physically and spiritually, causes all kinds
of problems, which is probably why the
translator used "distress" to indicate this.
And how well we know "dis" stress
this past year! The effects of the eco-
nomic downturn hit us here in Detroit and
Michigan harder than most of the rest of
the country — with ongoing and increas-
ing unemployment, home foreclosures,
business failures and increases in theft
and other crimes. In the face of all this,
many of us have retreated to the "narrow
places" of our lives — cutting back on our
own expenses as well as our charitable
donations, no longer hosting gatherings
for our friends or business associates,
renting instead of buying homes, taking
jobs that pay minimal wages that do not
reflect our education, training or experi-
ence.
Some of us have become ill because of
"
these stresses, physically being "squeezed"
in these tight-fitting places for many
months, where no outlet seems at hand.
Others have seen their children
leave the state for employment
elsewhere, deflating not only
the size of the household but
also the dreams of parents to
have their families close by,
especially when grandchildren
appear. Many of us may won-
der: How are we going to make
it in the coming year if these
external pressures continue or
even increase? As we approach
this Rosh Hashanah, it is truly
from these "narrow places" that
we will call out to HaShem in
our prayers.
Yet, the answer to our troubles is at
hand already, even if it seems counter-
intuitive. Just look back at our original
verse; the second line has the word "mer-
chav" (translated here as "relief"), which
comes from the root "rahav"meaning
"wide" or "broad." The literal meaning
then of this verse is: "Answer me, 0 Lord,
with broadness, in the wide open spaces."
In other words, the way out of our tight
and difficult situations is to open our-
selves up — to allow HaShem to broaden
our view of things and widen our circle of
actions, acquaintances and insights. It is
like when we inhale. We expand our dia-
phragms, and the increased oxygen goes
into our bloodstream, enlivening many of
our organs, including our brains. When we
open our eyes wide, we can see so much
more of what is going on around us and
inside of us. We can reach forward, stretch,
grow ourselves and our community in
new ways. We can come out of the deep
and narrow places of despair
as did Jonah, whose words we
recall on Yom Kippur:
"I sank to the base of the
mountains;
The bars of the earth closed
upon me forever.
Yet You brought my life up
from the pit,
0 Lord my God!" (Jonah 2:7,
JPS Tanach)
How can we expand our-
selves right out of our narrow
straits? We can begin by look-
ing at the beauty of our sur-
roundings and offering support for those
plans that are already underway to make
Detroit a vibrant and revitalized place for
everyone.
We can recalculate our finances to offer
some support to the worthy efforts of our
educational, religious or artistic institu-
tions, our social welfare agencies, our civic
organizations.
We can offer some of our time and
physical presence to the many non-
profit groups that are helping those with
all kinds of needs in our area. We can
broaden our reach to go past Eight Mile
Road, back into the city where so many of
us grew up, to partner with such groups
as Moishe House, the Greening of Detroit,
Operation Moses and the Isaac Agree
Downtown Synagogue, and offer our skills
and our knowledge to the rebuilding of
our core city and the renewal of a thriving
Jewish community there.
We can network with others to develop
new ideas for meeting the needs of others
and for creating new job opportunities,
new businesses, new prosperity — fol-
lowing the example of the joint venture
of Dan Gilbert, Josh Linkner and Brian
Hermelin.
We can choose to stay in our "narrow
places" waiting for others to open the
gates for us or we can choose to share our
resources— be they physical, intellectual
or spiritual —with each other, broaden-
ing each other's horizons and together
pioneering new enterprises. As our sages
taught in Pirkei Avot 2:9
"What is the good way a man should
cleave to? Rabbi Joshua said: Being a good
friend; Rabbi Yose said: Being a good
neighbor."
We can find inspiration from the
example of how our brothers and sisters
in Israel, under much more stringent con-
ditions some 63 years ago, created a ver-
dant and prosperous new homeland out
of swamps, deserts and rocky hills. And
they did this in the midst of constant wars
and attacks by their hostile neighbors!
What made the difference was that they
had a broad vision for their future — and
a determination NEVER to go back to the
narrow ghettos and concentration camps
that the rest of the world had forced them
into!
And if we open ourselves up in these
and other ways, HaShem will bless us and
lead us along this new broad highway to
prosperity and peace.
Rabbi Edut on page 85
Vision For A Quieter 5772
S
ome of the powerful images of
the High Holy Day season may
lead us to conclude that the
holidays are exclusively focused on the
individual — my good or bad deeds, my
past, my future. A broader look reminds
us, however, that while the individual may
be in the foreground of these holidays,
the world around us serves as the critical
background. This communal background
may help us to focus on those personal
improvements that may serve to effect
positive change in our family, in our local
community and beyond.
A close look at the vidui, the confes-
sional prayers that we say on Yom Kippur,
provides us with an important starting
point. It is often noted that a significant
number of lines in the al chet (For the
sin which we have committed ...) focus
84
September 22 2011
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on sins of speech. The Bible itself has a
healthy respect for the power of speech,
declaring that "Death and Life are in the
power of the tongue."
As I look toward the
coming year, it is as if I can
already hear the shrill voices
of those trying to influence
me to see the world as they
do. I can hear the political
messages of the coming elec-
tion season. I can hear the
heated arguments within the
Jewish community both in
the U.S. and in Israel. And I
can see the hyperbolic emails
arriving in my inbox with
alarmist (and often inaccurate) messages.
Perhaps you are like me. You and I are
reasonable people, aren't we? Over the
course of my life, I have changed my mind,
even concerning very important issues.
I have had attitudes and habits that I
thought would be with me for the
rest of my life changed. But, no
one ever convinced me to change
my life by yelling — actually or
figuratively.
Yes, people speaking passion-
ately, believing in the truth of
their message have touched me,
made me think and reevaluate
who I am. While it has been
possible to be open to a person
who respects me, I have never
been touched by a person who
claims that my ideas are dan-
gerous or crazy.
In spite of the fact that many note the
acute lack of civility today, others claim
that it is no worse than in previous eras.
Nevertheless, on many fronts, we expect
more of our present than was possible in
the past. I think that we should be asking
for more in terms of civility today than
existed in the past. We should demand it
of our public officials, of our candidates
running for office, of our rabbis and
Jewish communal leaders. Ultimately, we
should demand it of ourselves.
There is an endearing Jewish teaching
that says that when you hear someone
speaking ill of another person, you should
put your fingers in your ears. We wring
our hands over big issues, but so often,
the ability to start solving our problems is
in our hands, sometimes literally! fl
Rabbi Steven Rubenstein is rabbi at
Congregation Beth Ahm in West Bloomfield.