13 Elul 5780 - September 2, 2020

I AM JEWISH: RABBI BRIGITTE ROSENBERG

I am Jewish and feel I received a great foundation of knowledge because my mother never gave in when we complained about religious school or Hebrew school.  She made us continue through confirmation and graduation.  Even when one of us said we didn’t believe, she allowed us to make the choice not to participate in the service, but we had to go to class and learn about what it was we didn’t believe. 

I am Jewish because of summer camp, youth group, and the many teachers, counselors, rabbis and cantors who taught me and instilled in me a passion for Jewish knowledge - from Torah, to midrash, to rabbinic tales - and a recognition that Judaism could help inform my daily life.

I am Jewish because I love that Judaism doesn’t give me the answer or require a doctrine of belief, but instead provides me with multiple answers, which call on me to think for myself about what I believe, because Judaism doesn’t demand that my belief in God match anyone else’s and that my belief and relationship with God can ebb and flow throughout my life.

I am Jewish because to be a Jew means to struggle and wrestle with ideas.  It means being able to hold on to the tension that comes when we wrestle and struggle with what sometimes feels like competing ideas.  But Judaism allows me to hold onto both and find some sense of truth.

I am Jewish because Judaism sees no conflict between being a Jew and being an American.  Because for Jews, particularism and universalism are not at odds.  I am a better American for being a proud Jew. I am a better Jew for being part of the larger whole of a shared society, as an American.

I am Jewish because I love everything about being Jewish.  From our shared history, to the State of Israel, from the beautiful melodies of our past and present, to challenging myself to bake challah weekly, from Jewish geography and six degrees of separation, to being excited when someone Jewish succeeds in the world, from raising children and sharing with them the beauty of our faith and tradition to hoping and praying that I will not be the last link in the chain of this small but mighty people.  

It is tradition to read Psalm 27 every day during Elul.  

PSALM 27

God is my light and my refuge secure - whom shall I fear?

God is the stronghold of my life - of whom should I be afraid?

When those who act with malice would devour me with words,

it is they who stumble, they who fall.

If an army were to take up arms against me, my heart would not fear.

If war were waged against me, still I would trust.

Just one thing I have asked of God; only this do I seek:

to dwell in God’s house all the days of my life,

to behold divine sweetness and beauty, and to gaze in delight at God’s Temple.

God shelters me in times of hardship, shields me in a tent of divine protection,

raises me high on a rock - so that now my head rises above enemies around me. 

Let me make offerings in that tent - the offerings of a joyful cry.

Let me sing hymns, and celebrate the One who is eternal - Adonai.

Hear my voice when I call; God, answer me with grace.

My heart spoke for you - it said, “Seek My face.” Your face, Adonai, I will seek.

Do not hide your face from me, nor angrily turn away Your faithful one -

the one You have sustained. My God-of-rescue, do not desert me!

When my father and mother have gone, God will gather me in.

Teach me your way, Adonai; and guide me on a straight path,

because of those who lie in wait for me.

Do not hand me over to the will of foes who rose against me -

lying witnesses and those whose very breath is violence.

If only I could believe that I will see God’s goodness

in the land of the living. . .

Wait for Adonai

Be strong of heart, and be bold -- but wait for Adonai.

It is also tradition to hear the sound of the shofar each day during Elul.  It is a wake up call to prepare for the upcoming holy days. 

UHCSTL · Shofar 1