Those close to me in organizational life, have surely heard my
thoughts on the ‘tired old’ program. That’s
the program that came into being for a worthwhile purpose. But over the years, it became ossified. It became a fixed item on the organisation’s
calendar. As such, nobody even
questioned that it would happen each year.
Over time, the beneficiaries of the program had lost their interest,
because it had become so ossified as to not speak anymore to them.
I’ll offer an
example from my experience as a military chaplain. One of the big outreaches of the US Air Force
Chaplain Corps to the larger military community – that is, to the majority of
those on any given installation who have no particular use for the weekly
services and classes that are the chaplaincy’s stock in trade – is National
Prayer Breakfast. It’s a program that
has been going on for decades. But in
recent years, it’s one that simply doesn’t generate much interest. We chaplains would pour out energies into
putting on this program. The chaplain
serving as the Project Officer would be ‘unofficially’ charged with out-doing
whoever had the honour the previous year.
And he would try to do just that, by oganising such a spectacular
program that members of the greater community would flock to it. Every year, in the after-action meeting, we
would wonder how to draw people in. This,
because in the end, most of the people who had been in the room were either
representatives of the command, for whom attendance was more-or-less
mandatory. And the same faces we would
see at our weekly services. So every
year, when the grousing would begin regarding not reaching the wider community,
I would always suggest that we consider whether National Prayer Breakfast was
just a tired, old program that was not serving anybody’s needs anymore. When I did, colleagues would look at me as if
I’d committed heresy.
One more example,
from a different sector of organisational life.
At the last congregation where I was ‘employed’ as Rabbi, here on the
Gold Coast, the first Friday evening after the Annual General Meeting would be
designated for the installation of the incoming Board of Management. Every year, almost none of the board would
show up to be so recognized. And no more
of the congregation would show up than any other Friday night. But when I suggested that this service was not
resonating with anyone anymore, it was as if I’d committed…heresy.
So I guess I’m
sensitive to the idea of questioning annual programs, to applying the test of
relevance and, if they don’t pass, wondering whether they should continue. To me, it is part of working smarter, rather
than harder.
Last year, I posted a thought for
each day during the Counting of the Omer.
It was a response to someone challenging me to do so. And it was a challenge, to sit down
and something that I thought would be helpful to a reader, day after day. But in the end, I found that very few people
read them. I had feared from the start
that people who received the e-mails unsolicited from me, would learn after
several days to ignore. Why then, am I
back for a repeat performance this year?
One unsuccessful try does not prove
that a program is unwanted. If it isn’t
a resounding success, it at least pays to try once more. But to change the way one does
it. To search for a different formula,
one that might resonate more deeply.
Last year, I themed my thoughts on
the Sefirot, the emanations of the Divine that make up the Tree of
Life. I wasn’t being original; search
for daily meditations through the Counting of the Omer, and you’ll find most of
them are based on the Tree of Life. That’s
because of the linguistic association between Sefirot, Emanations, and Sefirat,
‘counting of.’ ‘Counting the Omer,’ in Hebrew, is ‘Sefirat Ha-Omer.’ The Sefirot are used to organize one’s
meditations during the Sefirah.
I find that most Jews don’t find the
Tree of Life helpful in their efforts to apprehend the wonder of G-d. When I start explaining it, eyes glaze
over. It’s really esoteric. And in saying that, I’m not asserting that it
isn’t a brilliant system that is useful for some people. I just find that, for more, it isn’t helpful. As one of my students told me: It makes my head explode. I can imagine someone getting daily,
unsolicited e-mails referencing these concepts, learning to ignore them.
That said, I do want to give
the daily thought for the Omer another go.
The journey from Redemption to Revelation is just too important for me
to ignore. I’m doing it again this year,
but I’m going to leave the Tree of Life aside.
Instead, I’m going to return to the themes that have been important in
my rabbinate. If it begins to sound like
a valedictory, that’s okay. One of the
themes I’ll touch on along the way, is: Live
Like You Were Dying. Similarly, one
whose calling is to teach and inspire, should do so as if it were one’s last
opportunity to do so. If I did any less I
would be, as my wife Clara would say, a Couter. I’ve never heard this term from anyone
else. It’s not Hebrew. Perhaps Arabic. Clara says it means, memaleh makom. The phrase means a ‘place holder.’ It’s the equivalent of, in the military,
referring to someone as ‘ROAD’: ‘Retired On Active Duty.’
So, lest I be accused of being ‘ROAD,’
I’m going to offer daily thoughts during the coming Seven Weeks of the Omer,
that I think are relevant. And if they sound
like a valedictory, that’s okay. But the
idea of preparing our hearts anew to accept and embrace the Torah, deserves nothing
less than our Ultimate Effort.
Each Friday during the Counting, I’m
going to use the occasion of my Weekly Reflection to introduce the overall theme
of the thoughts for the coming week since each week of the Counting begins on
Saturday night.
The first week, which begins with
the second day of Pesach, my theme will be Slavery. I can hear you thinking: that’s really original, Rabbi! Well of course it isn’t, in that Slavery –
or our liberation from same – is the very theme of Pesach. As we sing at the Seder: Avadim hayinu le-Faro be-Mitzrayim. We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt. But in reality, most of us are slaves
even today. And in numerous ways. I feel it whenever I’m speaking to people, whether
individually or in groups. The kind of
physical slavery still exists today, although baruch Hashem not many
Jews are afflicted by it. But it’s still
there, and warrants discussion. And
beyond that, are forms of emotional and spiritual slavery that do
afflict Jews along with our neighbours.
So, the first week of the Counting of the Omer, I’ll write each day
about slavery and offer my thoughts of how we may find liberation.
Subsequent weeks’ themes will take
various twists and turns. The goal is to
provide thoughtful reflections to prepare the reader to really celebrate
Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks, with the joy that it deserves. But trust me, I’m also being not a little selfish
in doing this. I need that preparation
as much as you do! And my producing a
thought for each day, based on a weekly theme, helps me to make the
journey as well. So join me, and a
Joyous Pesach to you.
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