Serving the Jewish Community

3/7/2018

This past Shabbat, Saturday, March 3rd, I was invited to sit on the Bimah of Heska Amuna Synagogue by my new friend, Rabbi Alon Ferency. As congregants began to show up for Shabbat Shacharit services, I was continually greeted with, "So nice to see you Rabbi," or "Shabbat Shalom Rabbi..." It was very heart warming to be greeted so graciously. I would not have expected anything different as the Knoxville Jewish community is quite small - and it is very easy to get to know other members of the community - regardless of which Synagogue/Temple they attend.

As the service began, the "Saturday morning crew" began to grow and grow. There was a great sense of community at this service and I was very grateful to be present. Having been immensely wrapped in Temple Beth El and the warmth of my new community, I have been very busy. It was very nice to be able to sit back and watch as my colleague led his congregation with grace and great leadership. Rabbi Ferency has been to TBE to visit quite a few times already this year so I was glad to be able to join his congregation.

Here is my truth today - the Jewish community in Knoxville is quite small. As a community, we have some really extraordinary organizations and people. After all, we have been in Knoxville since the Civil War (or even before). However, like many religious communities, we need to work together to ensure the future of our Jewish community and really the greater Knoxville Spiritual/Religious community. I have begun to meet some of the other non-Jewish clergy in town recently and we all need to work together to continue to create the kinds of communities we all dream about.

Yes - a community filled with inspired, spiritual, educated and wonderful people. There are many, many, many wonderful people in our community. We just need to do a better job of reaching out and engaging them. This is my goal - and a goal I share with my Jewish and non-Jewish colleagues. We will work together to strengthen our communities....

Aaron

3/11/2018 09:16:17 am

I suggest reading Rabbi Salkin's essay in Commentary, Judaism Beyond Slogans, from Jan 17, 2018, or listen to his Podcast with The Tikvah Project, from Feb 28, 2018, regarding Rabbi Salkin's ideas on how to accomplish your same goal. His thoughts are to study the texts and understand Judaism and then to have one's politics flow form one's understanding of the texts.

One is amazed at the spread of Chabad to every corner of the earth. One reason, is that Chabad offers a lively, life-giving interpretation of Torah that stimulates one's Jewish mind. Ultimately, I think, Chabad philosophy contradicts itself and so i don t find it a useful guide for my life, but I do find it useful in how to think and reason about Judaism.

I, and I presume many people likewise desire, an anchor in our lives and religion can provide that anchor. I enjoy Temple Beth El and find my life their rewarding. I am part of a Jewish community, first and foremost. It is a home for my children to be Jews, it is a place where my Catholic wife can participate fully and feel comfortable, it is a home to live a Jewish life and a center to have Jewish friends. And it all sprouts forth from a basis in Judaism. We are Jews first.

As I teach Religious School, my aim is to fist provide a Jewish education from an understanding of the texts and the meaning of Torah. That does not mean I am teaching Orthodox or Chabad interpretation, but I do try to expose my students to traditional Jewish interpretation and then to engage them in how I and Reform Judaism interpret those texts. I hold myself honest and teach my students about how my life is Jewish, even though I may adhere to all of the traditional Rabbinic Jewish interpretation of Torah, e.g. the laws of Kashrut.

I enjoy Temple Beth El because we can have frank discussions on Torah, politics and how to live a Jewish life. The fact that many of us come from interfaith families, forces us to be little more rigorous in understanding our Judaism. At least, that is the way I feel.

Our interactions with other faith movements, needs to come from an understanding that first we are Jews. And for that, we need to understand why we are Jews. What does our tradition teach us about being jews?

The reason I initially read and listened to Rabbi Salkin's pieces is that I am always frustrated by the Religious Action Center, RAC, of Reform Judaism. The RAC seems to take liberal, Democrat pablum and then find some verse in Torah to justify their belief. I can always take the same verse and argue the exact opposite. There is no rigor in RAC positions form a Jewish intellectual standpoint.

And I guess that it my ultimate advice to our community as we engage in the other faith communities, which I think is a great road to travel, is that we need to understand Judaism, our history, our texts and our philosophy first. Then we can engage and have a meaningful, spiritual and fulfilling engagement with the other faith communities in Knoxville.

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Serving the Jewish Community

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