Rabbi David Locketz
Erev Rosh Hashanah 5766
Bet Shalom Congregation

Baruch Atah Adonai, Elohenu Melech Haolam, she asani yisrael….Blessed are you God, ruler of the universe…who has made me a Jew. We chant that phrase during every morning service… we will chant it tomorrow morning too. It is a blessing understood differently by everyone in this sanctuary. I too hear it differently each time I chant it. For some it speaks to the soul…a spiritual and personal affirmation. For others it is a curious statement evoking questions that are sometimes difficult to answer…”Has my life been blessed or burdened for my being Jewish?” And for others it may be alienating…”I live a Jewish life and support a Jewish family, but I am not Jewish…and I sit here now…how am I supposed to understand that prayer?” And I know there are myriad other ways in which that blessing is interpreted.

So what does tradition teach us about it? From the Mishnah to contemporary writings…the definition of who and what is Jewish is complex and vast. For centuries we have had lists of what one is expected to believe and practice in order to be accepted under the banner of Judaism. The Mishnah, 2000 years ago, listed six things one must NOT do in order to be worthy of the world to come. Maimonides over a thousand years later stretched the list to 13. They range from belief in one God to resurrection of the dead. Even Kaufmann Kohler one of the greatest theologians in the history of Reform Judaism had a list of five beliefs he considered necessary to Judaism…and they were not so different from the lists written twenty centuries before.

But it isn’t so simple now…we can’t just make a list of what to believe and have that be the end of the discussion. As Rabbi David Ellenson has pointed out, we can’t even agree on what discussion to have. Some Jews define themselves religiously…they have a traditionally Jewish belief in God. Other’s have a spiritual definition…these people are seekers who emphasize Jewish study and prayer in trying to understand the nature of the world and what is required of each of us. And still others define Judaism culturally or ethnically…we are a People. Yiddish, Chopped Liver, koogle, and k’nishes are the parameters of our community. If we have all come to Judaism along different paths…then by birth or conversion…aren’t we all Jews by Choice?

Think of the Pesach Seder…we read each year about the four different sons. Each son has a different character. At different times in our lives, we have identified with them all. The Rashah…represents the rebellious spirit...one who demands personal relevance from tradition. The Wise child is the one who seeks depth and is comfortable with multiple answers to questions of faith and practice. The Non-verbal child may not know how to ask…but she wants to experience. The simple child is the curious one who looks with wonder at the world. They define those different feelings and understandings of the world that comprise us each…in turn…they represent just how many different paths there are that lead to Judaism. There are many kinds of Jews.

Even the Mishnah takes note of the different kinds of Jews. Pirke Avot (5:14) teaches us that there are four kinds of characters who attend the Bet Midrash…house of study. There is the one who attends but does not practice. There is the one who practices at home but does not attend. The third both attends the house of study daily and practices the tradition. The fourth neither attends nor practices. It is not surprising that the ancient rabbis were not fond of the fourth character. But the other three describe different kinds of people who incorporate Judaism into their lives in different ways. They all affiliate with the same Bet midrash…but they each understand their responsibility to it and its teaching differently.

What is curious to me is that if “She Asani Yisrael---Who has made me a Jew” can be understood in so many different ways…What then does it mean to be Jewish? Now I am not going to stand here tonight and tell you the answer to that question…nor am I going to give you a list of my own requirements. That is too subjective. I honor and appreciate that each of us here gets to struggle with and define, within certain parameters, what it means to be Jewish. While it would be impossible to talk objectively about “What a Jewish person is?...I do believe we can speak about Who Jews are. Literally who are we?

As many of you know…the Federation recently completed a demographic survey of the Jewish population in the Twin Cities. The community decided to undergo such a study in order to better understand who we are as a community …and to find out what we can do to build for the future. The findings were on one hand not all that surprising…but on the other…they do call on us to pay greater attention to certain things we may not have in the past. Judaism has always defined Jews in simple terms. A Jew is either born Jewish…or has converted. The Federation study throws its net a bit wider. The study looks at Jewish households…a household in which at least one person considers him or herself a Jew. Simply stated…if the respondents to the study defined themselves as Jewish under any terms…then the household in which they live is thus a Jewish household in the study. Judaism states what a Jews is based on tradition…the study looks at who Jews are sociologically. So who are the Jews?

Two or three decades ago, there was, accurate or not, an idealistic myth of the Minneapolis Jewish community. Most Jews had roots on the North Side and lived in St. Louis Park or the near West of Minneapolis. The Jewish geography of the times was not that diverse…even today many of us find common connections to a few neighborhoods, high schools and organizations. But things are different today. We sit here in Minnetonka on the inside edge of what is now called the Outer Ring. The inside edge! Chanhassen was recently listed among the fastest growing cities in the country. As the general population has moved westward….so have the Jews. While the number of Jewish families in Minneapolis and Inner Ring suburbs has decreased…the number in the outer ring continues to grow…it currently is home to 24% of Jewish households. This creates many challenges for the community…synagogues can’t be neighborhood organizations anymore. The Sabes Jewish Community Center is no longer in the Center.

Minnesotans love Minnesota. I can tell you from first hand experience…when you meet a Minnesotan living somewhere else in the world…they will often tell you that they are planning on returning to raise their family here. While that is, of course, a generalization, it may be instructive when looking at the demographic findings. Only 1% of our entire Jewish community in the Twin Cities is between the ages of 25-29….yet 46 % of our Adult Jewish Community was born here. Many move away and then come back with family. We also have a large number of families who have moved to Minneapolis from other places. While we have one of the highest percentages of homegrown Jews in the country, 54% of adult Jews in Minneapolis were born elsewhere. A significant number of those non-Minnesotans, 17 % of Jewish adults, were foreign born. 13% of the Jewish households are from the Former Soviet Union. We are more diverse than once assumed.

While all of these numbers and statistics tell us a great deal about where we were born and where we live now…it does not describe in great detail who exactly we are. We are a community that extends across all age groups and income levels. We cover the spectrum. Over 3500 of the Jewish households here are low income or in poverty. Yet, the median value of homes owned by Jews is over $340K. Our community is made of up rich and poor. I have been telling you about households...those households are comprised all types of gender and sexual orientation, family types, Jews and non-Jews. We are diverse. Nu…mi hu yehudi? Who and What is a Jew?

For better or for worse, rabbis and synagogues are gate keepers. But it is not our job to stand at the head of the line and grant entrance to some while holding others out. Our job is to welcome people in and to make sure they understand the rules and parameters of our tradition. Our job is to ensure that, no matter the make up of your family…we can support you and help you make strong Jewish choices. That is our job as a synagogue…to support people Jewishly…to help them find meaning in our tradition…and to do it without judging.

The demographic survey has influenced us to take a look at who we are as a synagogue. And we are no one thing. While we cannot, and will not, be everything for everyone…we are many things to many people. Rabbi Cohen is fond of saying we are a large congregation that pretends to be a small one. We try our hardest to be welcoming…our board of trustees…our staff…the rabbis…we do our best to meet people where they are and to support them with Judaism in the best way we understand it. Our services begin with the rabbis, service leaders, and members of the board standing in the middle of the sanctuary greeting everyone with Shabbat Shalom or Chag Sameach. That is who we strive to be as a congregation. We can be welcoming and at the same time we teach and set standards rooted in Jewish tradition. We can be welcoming while increasing Jewish knowledge and practice. We are not a social club…we are a congregation…a beacon of Judaism.

We have learned a great deal from the survey concerning the segments of the Jewish population we could better serve. We need to do a better job of helping those living in poverty. As a community we are not immune to the issues that plague the general population. There is domestic violence, crime, poverty and other blemishes on the Jewish population…no different than anyone else. We often do not see these issues because people living in poverty simply do not join synagogues. But we cannot turn our backs…we must be as generous with our fellow Jews as we are with others who need our help.

We have also learned that households comprised of people from the former Soviet Union are not being served in great numbers by our Jewish community. While Bet Shalom does have a number of families in this category, we hope to do an even better job of welcoming this part of our community into Bet Shalom in the years to come.

Along with families from the FSU, the survey identified that our community in general can do a better job of supporting families comprised of members from more than one religious upbringing. We have learned that Minneapolis has a greater percentage of interfaith families than other cities with similar demographics. We may be gatekeepers…but we need to be clear…our gate is open…our community is not without its principles…but we can be open and maintain our purpose, and our principles, at the same time. We are here to maintain and grow Judaism for the generations to come. We are a stronger community when we are true to ourselves and our heritage. Then we can truly turn to the person seated next to us and say with sincerity…”I am glad you are here.”

I am glad you are here…Each and every one of you. As Reform Jews…we understand that Judaism does have expectations of us…it does require of us to live in certain ways…it requires of us that we live in a way that honors both the religion we have inherited and those who bequeathed it to us. Recently in a presentation to our Confirmation Class, a guest who happened to be Native American rebuked our students. He told them that they had to be Jews because no one else could be. What a powerful message.

We have a great deal to learn from the demographic survey. It has yielded for us incredible data that will help us plan for tomorrow. But what it can’t tell us is what we already know. We are all Jews by Choice on one level or another. We have all chosen to be here tonight as part of this community…From the person who comes once a year to the active members of committees and activities. It would be easy for me to stand here and suggest that in the year to come, that you should all come every Shabbat and participate in every activity. But the demographic survey has reminded us that there are many paths to Judaism. What I will say is that I pray you will be sincere in your pursuit for the correct path for you and your family. We have to honor our tradition, and those who didn’t have the choices that we have, as we contemplate our own paths to holiness.

We are a large congregation that strives to feel like a small one. It is through human contact and dedication to our Covenant that we accomplish this. We are a congregation proud that most of our students remain in religious school through Confirmation. We are a congregation that gathers each and every Shabbat to celebrate as another youngster becomes an adult. We study Torah together several times each week…we have active committees that care for our members…our Caring Community provides companionship every week for those of us who are weary and in need of human interaction. They provide food and nourishment when life gets in our way and we are unable to do everything that needs to get done. They perform acts of Gimilut Chasadim – Acts of loving kindness each day. Our Inclusion committee sets our standard of inclusion high…just as we each rise to the bima here where I stand the same way…we strive to make it easy for members of our community to participate in everything we do with the same ease as rising up to the bima. These are just two examples of the great work being done in our congregation…by our congregation. We are a compassionate community that continues to work for justice and to make the world a better place for our having been it. You could sense the compassion in the piles of food and personal affects that have been accumulating at our entrances through the natural disasters of the last month. May all these efforts continue in the years to come.

Baruch Atah Adonai, Elohenu Melech Haolam, she asani yisrael….Blessed are you God, ruler of the universe…who has made me a Jew. I am blessed for being Jewish because I have this wonderful tradition to guide me, to connect me to the world, and to help me sanctify my life. May we each contemplate our individual paths in the year to come with sincerity and diligence, and may our paths, I pray, lead us back to one another again and again.

Ken Yehi Razon.

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