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Embracing
Our Chutzpah

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Rabbi Yoni Dahlen

Special to the
Jewish News

2018 RABBI IRWIN
GRONER LECTURE

Rabbi Ed Feinstein will
be speaking on “The
History of Chutzpah and
its Inclination for the
Grand Vision of Human
Possibility” 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, May 24, at
Congregation Shaarey
Zedek in Southfield.
Admission is free and
open to the community.
For more information,
call (248) 357-5544.

14

May 10 • 2018

“This word we associate with
hat’s your story? I’m
Yiddish is actually found in the
not asking in the
Talmud,” he says. “And there it
uncouth way, as if
has a very different meaning.
we ran into one another at an
Chutzpah is an irrepressible
airport or hotel bar and wanted
force, an irrepressible will. The
to make small talk. I’m asking
most remarkable contribution
in the way that goes deeper and
of Judaism to human conscience
begs for honesty and vulnerabil-
is chutzpah: a call to action, a
ity, the way that allows for doors
belief that what we are doing as
to open, the way that makes us
Jews matters.”
shake off our social and emo-
I asked for an example of
tional armor and expose the bits
and pieces of our lives that make chutzpah in action.
“Chutzpah is the
us who we are.
audacity to look for
And so now, with that
change, to look for mean-
important clarification,
ing. At the Passover
let me ask again. What’s
Seder, the wicked child’s
your story? Because
question is the question
after speaking last week
that matters most. What
with Rabbi Ed Feinstein,
does this mean to you? I
Congregation Shaarey
want to give an answer.
Zedek’s speaker for the
Rabbi Ed Feinstein This is more than just tra-
upcoming Rabbi Irwin
dition, more than antique
Groner Memorial Lecture
liturgy and ritual. It’s tra-
on May 24, I am certain of
dition because it has a deep value
two things. One, every single one
and a deep message. It’s valuable
of us has a story. And two, those
because it says something and
stories are beautiful, are impor-
continues to say something that
tant and deserve to be told.
is vital.”
It wasn’t hard to convince me.
I press him on this. At a time
Feinstein, who is senior rabbi at
when non-Orthodox Judaism is
Valley Beth Shalom in Encino,
going through an existential cri-
Calif., is a master teacher and
sis of survival and identity, what
storyteller. So, it was not at all
surprising that within minutes of is the message that is so deep
and vital? And are we failing in
picking up the phone, my nerves
giving that message to those who
and embarrassment vanished,
need it most?
and I was fully present and
Feinstein takes a deep breath. I
deeply engaged in a conversation
can tell already that the question,
about true, personal and mean-
which he has no doubt been asked
ingful Judaism.
dozens, if not hundreds, of times,
I asked him about the power
is one he thinks about often.
of chutzpah, a word, accord-
“I worry about our response,”
ing to Feinstein, that has been
erroneously identified as Yiddish he says. “Jewish life today is filled
with hopelessness, and I hap-
in origin and synonymous
pen to think that’s just wrong. At
with effrontery or gall. This
the heart of the Jewish people is
word, the subject of his latest
renewal, recreation and empower-
book, The Chutzpah Imperative:
ment.
Empowering Today’s Jews for a
“There are things about which
Life That Matters, he argues, is,
I’m concerned. I worry about
in fact, much older and charged
how people find meaning in their
with a deep and important
lives. I worry about this planet,
significance that speaks to the
this very small planet of ours,
essence of Judaism.

jn

Congregation Shaarey
Zedek welcomes
Rabbi Ed Feinstein.

that after all this time we still
haven’t learned how to get along.
We haven’t worked past the basic
dynamics of Cain and Abel. You
have something, and I want it.
But the story of Judaism and the
story of ourselves is one of hope,
of reinvention and creativity. I
think the despair is wrong. We
are at a time of potential, and I
think it’s time we celebrate that.”
Our story. It’s my favorite
phrase that comes up every so
often in our conversation. For
some reason, it makes me emo-
tional. Maybe it’s the concept of
all of us weaving a story together.
Or maybe it’s simply the relat-
ing of fears and concerns with a
rabbi whom I respect so much,
the ability to share in something
with someone who really hears
me. Whatever it is, it’s powerful,
and I have to ask him about it.
“Why are stories so power-
ful?” I ask. “You are known as a
great storyteller, and your book,
Capturing the Moon, is evidence
of your appreciation for stories.
What role do they play in Jewish
education and in your rabbinate?”
He doesn’t have to think. It’s as
if I asked him, “Why do we need
oxygen?”
“We are our stories, Yoni,” he
tells me. “Stories are important,
and we understand them on a
deeper emotional and personal
level than, say, a discursive ser-
mon. I love telling stories, kids
love stories and adults love sto-
ries. Narrative reaches a higher
level, and the sharing of stories
brings us together.
“Those stories,” he continues,
“are what make me excited about
the future, especially about what
Judaism looks like and will look
like in the 21st century. I’m so
interested in the diversity of
Jewish identity and Jewish sto-
ries. I have in my shul people
of color, people of every back-
ground, people who aren’t Jewish
but love Torah and love studying.

The stories work.”
I find myself nodding enthusi-
astically like a bobble-head doll
just given an aggressive flick, not
at all bothered by the fact that he
can’t see me on the phone agree-
ing with him. It’s a beautiful mes-
sage, and it’s been a long time
since I’ve heard such optimism
about Conservative Judaism.
I’m reluctant to end our con-
versation, but I want to respect
his time. After all, he’s busy
hoping, dreaming and celebrat-
ing the opportunity that we as
Jews are being presented at this
incredible moment in time. I ask
one last question.
“What is it you’d like Detroit to
take away from your visit?” I ask.
“If we can all hold on to one thing,
what would it be?”
“Hope,” he says. “I want us to be
able to answer the wicked child’s
question and to do so with hope.
We have something to say to the
world. We can be worried, we can
be concerned, but everywhere
we look, there are heroes. Israel,
this microcosm of the whole
world, shows us that. It’s a coun-
try with enormous problems,
and yet wherever you go in Israel
you meet heroes — selfless, lov-
ing, who are trying to create the
Jewish state of their dreams.
“I am honored to be coming
to Detroit, to stand in the pulpit
of Rabbi Groner, who was one of
the greats, and to help remember
him. And I am honored to come
to celebrate the hope that our
stories create. We are at a great
moment in Jewish history where
we can think of new and exciting
ideas of reinvention and reinter-
pretation. What we had before
was great, but now, it’s up to us
to think of new ways, and we are
being invited to do so. I want to
celebrate the invitation. I want to
celebrate the hopefulness.” •

Yoni Dahlen is a rabbi at Congregation
Shaarey Zedek.