Just a few weeks ago as I was walking through the grocery store with my family, our daughter Emma shrieked as we passed by a display of soups which had labels decorated with various different superhero cartoon characters. It was of no surprise to me that she had to have the Dora The Explorer can of Campbell’s Chicken Noodle. Dora is a longtime favorite – practically an obsession - of hers. What did strike me as surprising is that she reeled away from the can which had the image of Batman imposed on its label. She hid behind my leg and shrieked, “That one is scary!” Cleary we have different ideas as to who is a superhero…although, knowing the best of the situation…I kept my feelings about Dora to myself.

A few days later, the two of us were alone in the car on the way to preschool and I decided to ask her about heroes. I asked, “Is Superman a hero?” Her response was lukewarm, but positive. So asked about Cinderella. I struck gold. Cinderella is definitely a hero! When I asked why? She told me that Cinderella is a hero because she is nice to everybody.

Who comes to mind when I say the word hero? We each go to different places I am sure. From grade school teachers to Hollywood movie-stars heroism is understood so differently by everybody. But heroes are an important part of every culture…I wish we had more of them to look to.

I. So often we hold people who are in a position of public intrigue up as models of character. There is no logical reason for it. Yet we look at those in the limelight as people who we should be like…or at least people we want to be like. Often unconsciously. The Red Carpet sets standards for how to dress. Photos at the hairdresser are so often of figures from Hollywood so our hairstyles can be “in” and up to date. But as Rabbi Bradley Artson has written, “Careers of public figures take on a life of their own, ebbing and flowing with shifts in public opinion and the latest values.” Since when did values ebb and flow?

Unfortunately it is easy to find examples. One need only to turn to the news to find constant points of disappointment. Floyd Landis who was the winner of the most recent Tour de France tested positive for steroids. Of course the results have been contested…but his heroism is tainted regardless. Mark McGwire – the all-time single season homerun leader used steroids during his record breaking season 5 years ago. This is also contested by many. Barry Bonds is currently on pace to break the all time homerun record held by Hank Aaron sometime next season. Experts are certain he used steroids and he will likely be tried for perjury for lying before Congress in his testimony on this subject. This very topic was front page news again just yesterday.

We love to watch sports as a society…but sometimes our sports heroes make it difficult to palate. Our own Vikings brought embarrassment on themselves AND on us just last year with the Loveboat scandal. And even though owner Zygi Wilf cracked down on the team with a code of conduct…we have continued to see reports of indecent behavior in the news.

But it isn’t just sports figures. We see it from Hollywood to Washington DC, from entertainment to politics. Big businesses that control communal interests including transportation, medicine, and utilities are not exempt either. We continue to see those who rise to great heights of success publicly fall from grace. Yet we use so many of them as barometers for our own success and image. What is sad is that we are never surprised anymore. It seems commonplace now. Don’t we have access to better? Don’t we want to be better? Don’t we deserve better? What does this tell us about the people who are often most visible? Is it them, or are do they represent us?

Sex, money, power, fame, lust, and addiction seem to motivate all of them. It may seem like a cynical worldview, but how many cultural heroes truly exist today? The Mishnah teaches us that we should not look at the flask, but what it contains. So often in the world of public personages…it is specifically that flask on which we focus. Should we look up to Mel Gibson, Tom Cruize, Paris Hilton? What about corrupt politicians or business people? Do the prominent ones in the public light sacrifice our values in order to succeed? Are they successful simply because they gave up their values? Sometimes I think so.

I am sure there are those who think, “What difference does it really make?” Whether we are conscious of it or not, these examples creep into our psyches. Mitzvah goreret mitzvah…aveirah gorreret aveirah. Good deeds lead to other good deeds and the same is true for an aveirah…a bad deed….a bad dugma – example.
There are those in these fields who have taken on their public role in noble ways. They pursue their work with integrity and human kindness devoting a great deal of resources and time to making the world a better place. But these actions do not seem to be as newsworthy. We don’t hear much about the good…we usually hear the breaking news focused on the bad…that is what makes it to the magazine covers on the newsstand. I wish we heard more of the good…we need more cultural heroes who conduct themselves in honorable ways.

II. As eye-catching as the internet can be…and magazine covers…and other forms of in your face media that promote our Hollywood heroes…there are many public heroes that we as Jews can look up to who go virtually unnoticed. Or who have been forgotten over time. They are people who when analyzed…are absolutely heroic…people who make us want to be better people ourselves. I would like to speak about just a few for a moment.

Beginning in the days of our Torah, Miriam, Moses’ sister was a hero. She was heroic even though Miriam does not hold the prominent place in our collective memory that her brothers Moses and Aaron do. One was the ultimate leader of the Israelites…clearly heroic in many ways, and her other brother was the head priest. Yet, while all the men in that early group of our ancestry emphasized words, rules, and sanctity, Miriam heralded a prophecy of deeds. As the text tells us, Miriam took her timbrel in hand and danced all night on the shores of the sea. If she had a Myspace page her profile would definitely say, “loves to dance and sing.” Miriam taught our people to dance and sing. She taught us to stand up and shout about our joy to be alive. Miriam is a hero.

There are other biblical characters who were heroic as well. There is the famous instance of the daughters of Zelophachad, whose family had no living male heirs…so when Moses set out to divide up the land…they were in danger of being overlooked. The daughters of Zelophachad went to Moses and petitioned for a change in the process. And they ultimately did receive a portion of the Land. They were heroes because, as Rashi the famous Medieval French commentator taught, they saw that which Moses could not. They stood up for the rights of the less fortunate. They did not remain complacent while the laws and systems that worked for the majority left others in the dark. They spoke up when it mattered and made sure the fragile minority was cared for.

But our Jewish heroes don’t only come in the form of Biblical characters. We have many examples…and I’ll share just a few more. Louis Brandeis was the first Jewish Supreme Court Justice. When he was nominated to the court by President Wilson, a four month confirmation hearing ensued because he was a Reformist Lawyer, and a Jew, and Congress worried he would work to shift the nature of the court. Wilson stood by Brandeis because he knew that Brandeis had a rare comprehension of reality that combined legal and social understanding. He was finally confirmed in 1916. He was an ardent Zionist who taught his fellow citizens that it was American to be a Zionist. Brandeis stuck to his convictions even when what he knew to be right…was controversial.

And there are so many others. There are the inventors and scientists who have captured an understanding of the universe…of Creation…and worked to improve it even more…Like Albert Einstein. Social work as we know it today has it origin in countless, nameless women who had a vision of helping others through organizations like Neighborhood House which today still serves many cities. There have been the socially aware artists whose work still is a part of the national landscape today like Emma Lazarus who’s most famous work is the sonnet etched at the base of the Statue of Liberty. And certainly Irving Berlin made a difference with his compositions. There have been athletes who could be held up high for what seemed like small decisions including Sandy Kolfax…not a terribly observant Jew…but one who sat out a very important baseball game because it was Yom Kippur.

And the then there are the people who have all but vaporized into historical obscurity. I wrote my rabbinic thesis about a man named Rabbi Joseph Rauch from Louisville, Kentucky. Most people today have never heard of him…but he spent all day, everyday trying to make the world a better place…teaching by example…He used to preach that you if you were going to have an opinion about something…you had better back it up with action and tzedakah.
I do not think the answer is to grab a timbrel and to dance in the street like Miriam…although the world might be a more joyful place if people did that. Are we really supposed to learn from these examples that we should live a more biblical life? That we should be more like the stars of the Torah or subsequent Jewish History? Maybe? What if we merely walked away knowing that values do not just ebb and flow…heroic characteristics suggest a moral standard and that is what makes them heroic…you can count of them…you can build on them…you can make them part of who you are.

III. Just this summer, a new Superman movie was released called, “Superman Returns.” Not so many people saw it… it did not do so well in the box office. But those who did see it might have noticed a small subplot in the movie. Superman disappeared for several years. He went back to his home planet of Krypton. While he was gone the world went on without him. In his absence, Lois Lane, won a Pulitzer Prize for a column she created called, “The World Doesn’t Need Superman.” I am sure it is not great for the morale of a superhero to find out that you are really not needed. But maybe that is a good thing for us humans. The world doesn’t need superman because we are all here.

If we look around…really look around and consider the people we encounter each day…we are surrounded by heroes. All around us there are people who do heroic things everyday. There are those who give of their time in myriad ways to Social Action working to make the lot of others better. There are people who continue to care for the needs of those in our community who are ill, or homebound, or just in need of human companionship. There are people who, in a world that is making it ever more difficult, still strive to be menches, and to raise children who are menches.

B’makom she ain anashim….l’hishtadel ish. In a place where there are no humans…aim to be a human. Isn’t that our goal? To create a community of menches? Even though many of the famous comic book superheros were created by Jews, maybe we should be issuing posters and collecting cards of heroes called Menchman or Menchwoman. He or she would be dressed in plain clothes and look like many people sitting here in the sanctuary because we are surrounded by menches. We need not look to the newsstand for our models of heroism. We need to focus on the members of our own community…so that we can raise the next generation of Jewish heroes…focused on saving the world from the forces of evil…just like Superman…but with the powers of science, medicine, intellect, love and kindness. These are Torah too.

We all have the opportunity to be heroes. We are all present. Just a few moments ago we read from the book of Deuteronomy. Its words called out that eternal reminder that we are here, just as we were at Mt. Sinai, to receive the Torah. Atem Nitzavim Hayom…Kul’chem. You are standing here today…all of you. No one is left out of the list. We all have the same access. That same section of Torah ends with the proclamation that the Torah is not in Heaven…is in our mouths now…and its contents are not too hard for us to achieve. Even the rabbis in the Talmud agreed upon discussing the section of the Torah…it is no secret and it is ours…as a guide from which we must go forth and do God’s will. Revelation is ongoing. We were all at Mt. Sinai…because Mt. Sinai is a state of mind. We can all be there right now if we listen to the ideals our Torah contains.

Every culture has its own understanding of what a hero is and does. Most cultures around the world understand heroism to be associated with strength…physical outer strength. Our rabbis of the Mishnah understood heroism differently. In Pirke Avot, they answered the question of “Ezehu Gibor - who is a hero?” by stating, “A hero is one who overcomes – his or her yester/temptations.” As Rabbi Joseph Telushkin has pointed out…there is therefore no objective measure for heroism. We each have our own challenges and we each meet them and struggle with them differently. In most cultures then…heroism is greatly valued, but only applies to a select few and is not tested very often. In Judaism, heroism is a possibility for everyone…and it is a characteristic that is tested every minute of every day.

Today is Yom Kippur. We all stand here together in the quest to be better people. To be the people were indeed meant to be. We each have the inner strength and character to be heroic. We each have the opportunity everyday to face the challenges of our inner inclinations and to work together to repair this world. We each can be good examples for the young people in our community. Being menches, exhibiting kindness…we can bridge the generations with the values handed down to us from the generations that came before…values that do not ebb and flow…values that sustain us with muscle and strength and ethics and Jewish values…values that do not let us sit still in the face of evil and adversity. Values that guide us to make the world better…to make the existence of others better. Heroic Values. We each can be cultural heroes…we do not need to look to the media for how we ought to live. We need to just look at one another. Together we can bring the forces of good to the surface. The world does need Superman…but not the fictional character…the character Nietzshe described…people who use creativity and integrity to transcend good and evil. May these people, be the people we emulate in the year to come.