Thursday, February 18, 2016

To Whom am I Speaking? A Reflection for Friday, 19 February 2016

A number of the tasks I must accomplish in the course of my job, are challenging.  But I don’t think any task is more so, than preparing my weekly drashes, or sermons.  As you know, I prepare two per week:  one for Friday evening, and one for Saturday morning.  It isn’t difficult to think of two messages per week.  But it is sometimes difficult to find two messages in the weekly Torah and Haftarah readings.  It is not an ironclad requirement to use the weekly readings as my jumping-off point.  But if I can, it is a feather in my cap.  Just about anybody can imagine two things to say on any given week if one can choose freely from the happenings in the world.  But to use the weekly readings, over which we have no control, and tie in our thoughts to those texts…that’s a challenge for the brave!
          In reality, no matter what I use as the jumping off point there is bravery necessary.  We all know the joke about the Rabbi and the cab driver who arrive at the gates of heaven together.  The cab driver is ushered in immediately.  The Rabbi must wait.  The Rabbi takes issue and demands to know why the cab driver is given priority.  The answer?  When you were giving sermons, everybody was falling asleep.  When he was driving, everybody was praying.
The least of my worries is that my drash will put you to sleep because it isn’t immediately relevant to you.  The worst danger is that it will be relevant.  You’ll think I’m talking to you directly.  And you’ll take issue with that.  This happens repeatedly.  In what I was saying, I ‘hit the nail on the head’ for one of my listeners or readers.  And they resented it.  And then lashed out at me in some way.
   Look, I’m not saying this to whine about my lot.  This is simply one of the occupational hazards I face.  It goes with the territory.  Many of my colleagues work hard to sidestep it.  They try to keep their finger on the pulse of their congregations.  And then deliberately avoid saying anything that might evoke a strong reaction.  Many of these colleagues are highly successful, in conventional terms.  They enjoy long-term contracts at large, wealthy congregations.  And…many of their sermons are as evocative as a weekly book review.
Wouldn’t you rather be challenged by what your Rabbi says?  I would think so.  My mission statement?  To comfort the afflicted.  To afflict the comfortable.
When I give a drash that resonates deeply with you.  You need not wonder if I’m speaking directly to you.  If you react that way, then I am!  Whether by design, or consequence.  But it shouldn’t matter which.  If I am, it’s because I’m addressing an issue that I see around me, that requires addressing.  It doesn’t mean that I want to call you out publicly.  I don’t to that, because it is not what I do.  Rather, I address conditions that I observe to beset many people in front of me.  If what I say resonates with you, it simply means you are one of them.  I am not trying to make anybody feel exposed or ashamed. 
If what I say hits close to home, it means that I have succeeded – at least for you – to address a relevant topic.  It doesn’t mean my words are Torah.  It simply means that you might do well to take my words into consideration.  To mull over them.  If I’m addressing something that is an issue for you personally, then my purpose is to get you to think about it.  Not to prescribe a solution.  If you would like assistance addressing an issue as you reach for a solution, you may call upon me for a private consultation.  My drashes should never be taken in that spirit.
Many of us have heard the teaching of the Hassidic master, Simcha Bunim of Peshischa, in Poland.  He taught that one should carry around two slips of paper in two of one’s pockets.  On one should be written:  For my sake was the world created.  On the other:  I am but dust and ashes.  Both maxims are necessary, if one is to achieve and maintain balance.  When we’re feeling oppressed or depressed, we should remind ourselves that for my sake the world was created.  And when we’re feeling high and mighty and full of ourselves, we should remind ourselves that I am but dust and ashes.  The two are necessary counterpoints.  If we only remember that we are but dust and ashes, we be locked into depression and dysfunction for lack of energy to invest in anything.  If we only remember that for our sake the world was created, we are in danger of thinking that the world revolves around us.  Each one of us knows someone in each of the aforementioned conditions.  We might be the one in either condition.  We must focus on the maxim that will help to get us out of our condition.  But to never forget its opposite.
Have I said something in a drash that makes you think that I’ve written that drash specifically for you?  If so, I recommend you think I am but dust and ashes.  In other words, the world does not revolve around you.  No one of us should feel so central to everything that the Rabbi would give a drash to the community based solely on one person’s needs.  If you keep that in mind, then maybe you can take my words as addressing general principle.  If it speaks directly to you, know that you are one of many.  Try to step back in this fashion.

But that done, remember the other maxim:  For my sake was the world created.  If I did hit the nail on the head for you, accept the personal applicability of the message as a gift you richly deserve.  Because even if I’m not intentionally speaking to you personally, it is likely that at some point, something that I say in my drash will be directly applicable to what you’re experiencing in real life.  If that’s the case, don’t just dismiss my words.  But don’t take them as Torah mi-Sinai either.  Instead, take my words on board for further reflection.  If it is true that for my sake the world was created, then it is important that each one of us overcome the issues that beset us at any given time.  Rather than wallow in our misery, we can be assured that it is important to the greater scheme of things that each one of us finds wholeness.  Shabbat shalom.  

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