Preparing to transform ourselves

To help congregants, clergy must inspire themselves before they can motivate others, since empty vessels can’t fill other vessels

 

Rabbi N. Daniel Korobkin
Beth Avraham Yoseph Congregation, Toronto

Rabbi Lisa Grushcow
Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom, Montreal


Rabbi Korobkin: As you and I and Jewish clergy throughout the world prepare for our “busy season,” the High Holidays, what do you do in the days and weeks before the holidays to prepare both yourself and your congregation for these Days of Awe?

Rabbi Grushcow: I find that my preparations for the High Holy Days begin as soon as we blow the shofar at the end of  the previous Yom Kippur. Throughout the year, there are Jewish texts and pieces from the news, and, most of all, stories from people I am privileged to encounter, and I carry those with me into the Days of Awe. Just this morning, a passage jumped out at me from the prayer book for a Rosh Hashanah sermon. 

There is always a feeling of inadequacy: who am I to speak in front of the congregation over those days? What can I say that could share the depth and breadth of our tradition in a way our congregants can take with them into the world and into the new year? I take it seriously, and never take it for granted. I try to write sermons I would want – or need – to hear.

In terms of the congregation, we pay attention to Elul and the weeks leading up to Rosh Hashanah in the music we choose and the teachings we offer. The more preparation, the better. Our Slichot services, for example, have grown into a beautiful opportunity to engage with the essential themes of the Days of Awe.

We are constantly trying to do what Rav Kook describes as “making the old new, and the new holy.” Our task – and it’s a big one – is to make those days matter to everyone who comes through our doors.

Rabbi Korobkin: Both your main points resonate with me: the events of the past year have to play prominently in our thoughts and prayers for the coming year. I sometimes wish that in the front of the shul we could have a multimedia screen spooling the images of both natural and man-made disasters and celebrations of the past year. Especially when we recite the Unentaneh Tokef, if we can at least imagine in our own mind the “Year in Pictures” for 5774, including all who died and all who were born, images of the Gaza war and all that’s going on in Israel, the prayers would be so much more impactful.

And we as clergy have the great responsibility of inspiring ourselves before we can hope to inspire others. Empty vessels, as they say, cannot fill other vessels. To that end, I try to get out of the office more and commune with nature, talk to God, and spend more alone time in meditation to come back to myself and reassess if I am the person God wants me to be. It’s difficult work, but it’s the first step in trying to help reignite others’ sparks during those few hours in shul.

I think your congregation is fortunate to have you, because I know other rabbis that serve congregations with the “once a year” crowd who use their High Holiday sermons to talk about Israel and world events, instead of inspiring people to become better people. What a lost opportunity.

Rabbi Grushcow: I think “opportunity” is the perfect word. The High Holidays are an opportunity for us to connect with our congregations, for our congregants to connect with one another, and for each of us to try to connect with our inmost selves and with God.

Ultimately, that’s what carries me through these days. Each moment is pregnant with possibility. Our charge is to connect and change, to reflect and grow. I know I’ve given a worthwhile sermon when it opens conversations. 

Years ago in New York City, a neighbour in my apartment building said to me, with utter seriousness: “Rabbi, I can only go to my synagogue for 15 minutes on Yom Kippur. Which 15 minutes should I choose?” 

I replied: “Go at the end. See the people coming from services, and see how they go out into the world.” These days are meant to transform us.