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This happened almost magically in the Neilah service of Yom Kippur with our ecstasy-filled singing and the responses of our children to the story of Jonah. It happened when Richard, coming forward to read a psalm that morning, chose to share with us both memories of his childhood and challenges he has faced as an adult. And it happened when Rachel spoke to us about her recently-deceased grandfather who, as a soldier in World War II, was involved in the liberation of a Nazi concentration camp and then, with his family, went to the aid of the broken and traumatized survivors. With not a dry eye in the room, Rachel challenged us, in that same spirit, to go to the aid of those in need in our own community. Our response in non-perishables for the Brattleboro Drop in Center exceeded even the record we set last year.
There were lots of other high points for me: the Random Acts of Kindness, which somehow get both more creative and more expansive every year; Andi’s Ashamnu and Unetaneh Tokef, Andrea’s Avinu Malkenu, the chazzanut of Allen and Jim , Jennifer's chanting from the Torah to honor her mother, and the celebrations of our golden agers. I was moved as we all were by the vulnerability - and the courage - of Elizabeth and Moss as they shared their experience of daughter Elkinah’s surgery. (I’ll surely never forget listening to Moss’s mother describing her own reaction to their life affirming words.) And I loved listening to Faith. (My wife Louise made the apt observation that her father, a professor of homiletics – sermon design and delivery – would have labeled Faith’s sermon “classically constructed” – his highest compliment.)
Additionally, as an admirer of both Phyllis Isaacson and Benjamin Britten, I was delighted at the opportunity to hear a combination of those two in a performance of “Abraham and Isaac” as a prelude to our Ne’ilah service. What a treat for me—and for the rest of the congregation!
Beyond these, and the opportunity I had to sink into the immaculately prepared Torah and Haftorah readings (our thanks again to the anonymous sponsor of the Torah Challenge and the young people who responded so beautifully!), I delighted in the opportunity to observe this remarkable confluence of Jews from our community – our extended family: member families and their visiting loved ones, students from area schools and colleges, those individuals and families I very fondly refer to as our "Farmers’ Market Jews” (who are more likely to be present there – in its own way a spiritual experience - than at Shabbat morning services on a given Saturday morning), and children from everywhere. There were lots of first timers, and, significantly, a few who returned to pray with us after an absence of many years.
I also marveled, as I do every year, at our ability to hold these services with a premium on the sacred. It’s risky business for a congregation to resist the temptation to focus on funds at this one time of year when everyone comes. Yet our approach seems to be appreciated - - and it seems to work. One person after another told us how refreshing it is to find a congregation that refuses to sell tickets and makes everyone feel so welcome. And the contributions offered this year by our guests, perhaps our highest tally ever, was tangible evidence of that appreciation.
B’shalom,
Jim
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