5769 Rosh Hoshanah Sermon
On Discernment, by BAJC President Marty Cohn
After a child is born, we recite a Mi Shebeirach at a baby naming or a bris. Grateful parents ask G’d to grant their offspring the very best that life has to offer. Among the requested blessings are wisdom, understanding, and discernment. Of the three, discernment is the most valuable and rare.
Discernment is more than simple smarts.
Discernment is the ability to see, really see. It enables a person to look into the heart of a matter and then evaluate it in ways not obvious or ordinary. Someone once said that a genius is a person who looks at what everyone else looks at but sees what no one else sees.
Seeing is very much the subject of the Torah portion we read on the first day of Rosh Hashanah. Sarah sees the potential threat that Ishmael poses to Isaac's inheritance. (Genesis 21:9-10) Hagar weeps in despair, not wanting to look at her thirsting, dying son. (Genesis 21:16).
And, finally, G’d hears her son's cry and opens Hagar's eyes to the presence of a nearby well of water. (Genesis 21:17, 19) G’d does not dig the well: Rather, G’d opens Hagar's eyes and she sees. She discerns that the instrument for her survival had been there all along.
Two miracles have occurred in the space of a moment in our text. Ishmael’s silent cry is heard, and Hagar’s eyes are opened.
Our text does not say God created the well for Hagar, only that God opened her eyes to see it. Perhaps there are lifesaving answers all around us, if only we could learn to see more clearly, listen more attentively.
There are times for all of us when life seems to have reached a dead end. We seek solutions and answers, but none come. And then, from somewhere, seemingly nowhere, an answer begins to take shape. Very often, the solution comes from seeing the situation the way it really is and discerning new possibilities for action.
In the above verses from Parashat Vayera, G’d opens our eyes and renews our ability to discover. In this sense, every 'aha' moment is a revelation. Discernment is the ability to see what earlier were unknown possibilities. Faith is the belief that such new possibilities are there for the seeing. Jewish faith assures us that the One who helps us see new possibilities will be there with us when we are in desperate need of that kind of vision.
In the movie Field of Dreams, long-departed baseball greats return to take up the game in an Iowa cornfield. Initially, only the farm family can see the men, but in time, others also are able to discern their presence. 'When did all these ball-players get here?' the previously cynical brother-in-law asks. The truth is that they had been there all along. But the brother in law’s heart had not been open to possibility – he had not been looking clearly, he had not been listening attentively.
Torah study itself provides a means to cultivate this capacity for discernment. How wonderful to be able to turn to any parasha and begin with the assumption that there is always something new to discover, that although the answer or the meaning may not be immediately obvious, it can all come together in a novel and unexpected way. To come up with a new interpretation-to see in the text something we never saw before-is to have our eyes opened. To discover meaning where previously only confusion and question reigned is to experience something that is as life-giving and life-affirming as Hagar's discovery of the well. Hence for us, too, a talent for discovery is a great survival skill.
There is a fine line between discovery and revelation, or perhaps there is no line at all. In the end, discernment is a partnership - a joint venture between the One who opens our eyes and the one who has the courage and faith to seek what was probably always there to see.
What does all of this mean to me as the new president of Shir HeHarim? As I assumed this new role of leadership, with all its inherent responsibilities, my eyes were opened to the opportunities that now stand before us.
Those that came before me successfully created Shir HeHarim, successfully affiliated with the Union of Reform Judaism, successfully bought the land at 151 Greenleaf and successfully remodeled a farmhouse into a sacred space.
These accomplishments have been so valuable – and the result of huge efforts by lots of people. But we cannot simply sit back and expect these early successes to propel us into the future.
As I look upon our newly painted shul, I see more than a beautiful edifice. Rather, I see a sacred place of assembly for worship, education and communal affairs.
But how does this all happen?
When we hosted our fundraiser, the second annual Israeli Film and Food Festival, we rounded up the usual 15-20 suspects to help, and not only raised a significant amount of money to cover operational costs, but also exposed hundreds of people to our congregation.
When we needed to deconstruct one of our barns because of its potential safety hazard, a score of people turned out to help.
Our on-going fundraising effort that recycles toner cartridges has saved us hundreds of dollars in office supply purchases. Our new project that we began this summer to redeem soda bottles and cans has netted us over $50 so far.
And, our ongoing collection of unopened hotel toiletries that we bring to Morningside Shelter continues to be welcomed by our neighbors in need.
If you were part of either of these two events or if you helped Shir HeHarim in any way during the past year, I thank you. But if you did not, this may be a good time to reflect on ways in which you can contribute in the year to come.
To paraphrase an ancient African Proverb, it takes a community to raise a synagogue.
Over the next several months, The Board of Trustees will be conducting a series of “coffee klatches” in member’s homes throughout the Brattleboro Area Jewish Community. My hope is that every single member of our congregation will be able to attend at least one of these meetings so that we can hear your vision for Shir HeHarim. That’s right HEAR a VISION.
After we have conducted these meetings, the board will participate in a retreat with a URJ facilitator in which we can take all that we have discovered and shape a common vision for our temple.
Through these simple acts of looking and seeing, we open a realm of possibility not readily apparent when we objectify and take for granted all that fills our daily surroundings—the people, animals, and natural resources with which this earth is blessed. Vayeira reminds that even when things get tough, we can open our eyes, look about us and find new possibility, new opportunity for hope. Recognizing G’d in all creation; we then all have the capacity to act on this new possibility, this new hope to enrich our lives.
Kein yehi ratzon, may it be G’d's Will!
L’Shana Tova.
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