My New Year's Wish Is That We Work Together

 

Dear JCCP/CBT Family,

I want to wish you all the members of the congregation and community a happy new year. 2020 was a hard one. May 2021 be a better year for all.

The pandemic and all of its attendant difficulties has exposed the fault lines that run through our great nation as never before. Whether political, economic, social, racial, or cultural, we can no longer deny that which divides us and how these divisions have so bitterly impacted so many. Addressing them is our great national priority in 2021. I hope we will have many opportunities to discuss these issues in the synagogue this year.

As I think of these challenges, I am reminded of my absolute favorite Jewish story. It’s a Hasidic lesson that points the way towards the solution. Please read it. I hope it means as much to you as it has to me. If you really want to understand how I think and understand things, the story is it.

Once in a tropical country a certain bird, more colorful than any that had ever been seen, was sighted at the top of the tallest tree. The bird’s plumage contained within it all the colors in the world.  But the bird was perched so high that no single person could ever hope to reach it.

When news of the bird reached the king, he ordered that a number of the people try to bring the bird to him.  They were to stand on each other’s shoulders until the highest person could reach the bird and bring it to the king.

The people assembled near the tree, but while they were standing, balanced upon each other’s shoulders, some of those near the bottom decided to wander off.  As soon as the first person moved, the entire chain collapsed, even injuring several of the people.  And still the bird remained uncaptured.

The people had doubly failed the king.  For even greater than his desire to see the bird, was his wish to see his people so closely joined together.

Every day, we are commanded to acknowledge God as our King.  Let us not fail Him in His greatest wish: to see his people joined in common purpose, to do His will and be His true partners in making a better world for all people.

This is the new year’s message that I want us to truly consider for the coming year.  Judaism is all about harnessing our humanity for holy ends.  Think about how different our families could be. How different our political discourse in this country could be. How different the world could be, if we could learn this lesson, and work together to address the real challenges we face.

And if not now, when? 

Happy New Year and Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Arthur Weiner    

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