Rosh HaShanah: Thinking Horizontally

Sermon by Rabbi Sim Glaser
2018/5779

This morning is a first. Behold, we have combined the downstairs TIPTY creative service with the traditional Sanctuary service to fashion something of a hybrid. We thought it might be nice for the generations to get a sense of what each other are up to. In this room we celebrate a hallowed history of worship. Our kids are thinking about tomorrow. It’s a nice blend.

One of our great biblical prophets, Yoel, said that the old shall dream dreams and the youth shall see visions. This prophet understood the delicate balance between those of us who represent the past and those who are the guardians of the future.

Yoel is what one of my favorite Kabbalah teachers called a horizontal prophet. A horizontal prophet is concerned with making clear God’s wishes, but equally about the welfare and future of the people. Isaiah, whom we will read on Yom Kippur, is a classic horizontal prophet when he tells us that our fasting on that day has to do not so much with our saying sorry to God, but with unlocking the yoke of poverty and not allowing another to go hungry.
Then there is the famous Amos – another horizontal prophet – who demanded Justice to flow like the mighty stream – in real human terms.

Vertical prophets, on the other hand, are all zealots for God. They are single-minded, caring only about pushing God’s agenda, sort of “stumping for God,” publicizing the Divine greatness with no regard for the people other than that they obey Divine law. They are extremists with one unalterable point of view, and one that rarely addresses the future welfare of others.

A classic example of a vertical prophet is Elijah. You’ve heard mostly the good press on Elijah. You’ve sung his song, put out his cup on Passover. But Elijah was a hot-headed God promoter who was more interested in punishing sinful Israelites than investing in the future and believing that we and our offspring mean business.

Contrast Elijah with Abraham who, in the case of Sodom and Gomorrah, challenged God’s own judgment to not act rashly in consideration of potential decent human character. Hey, there may be some decent folks in these towns!” Give humanity a chance!

Abraham’s goal was the future of humanity. His faith was tested many times, and he managed to show both his fealty to his God, and a love for the people he was forging into a nation. Abraham was a true horizontal prophet.

Oddly enough, the story we just heard chanted from the Torah is the one test Abraham almost failed! High atop Mount Moriah, Abraham almost becomes a vertical prophet, acting only for the sake of some bizarre Divine instruction to sacrifice his only son, and literally annihilate the future. He takes Isaac up the mountain, picks up the knife ready to end the future right there, and almost does the deed.

Spoiler alert: An angel stops him just in time! But just to keep you guessing, the Torah describes the two of them ascending the mountain, with no mention of Isaac on the way down, as though to give us a sense of what it would have been like, had the great Abraham cared nothing about the coming generations. It’s a sobering message to anyone who ignores the urgent calling of the future!

On the holiday of Shavuot this last spring I was asked to address our 10th grade confirmation students. Shavuot celebrates the giving of the Ten Commandments, but I wasn’t worried about these kids keeping the Ten Commandments. They were fifteen good kids and I didn’t spot very many potential adulterers, idol worshippers, thieves, or murderers among them. Well, there was this one kid, but never mind…

So I chose instead to give them five rules I hope they will break as they take our world into the future. Five expectations that many adults have about their likely behavior that I want them to prove false.

Rule #1

The statistics tell us that you millennials are going to replace human interaction with tech media; that some of you spend close to 6 hours a day on devices. I’d like to give a vote for looking at each other in the eyes. There really is no substitute.

Yes, it is true that Israeli technology came up with a lot of the science that led to smart media, but Jews have taught for thousands of years that real physical community is essential to our wellbeing. We need to sing and dance with each other. We need to agree and disagree with one another face to face. We need to hold each other accountable. We need to look each other in the eye. Peace negotiations are rarely made over wireless.

The Torah says that we, not our handheld devices, are, body and soul, created in the image of God. Silicon Valley says the rule is that they will tell you how to conduct your relationships. I told them to break that rule!

Rule #2

The numbers predict that when these kids come of age to vote in a few short years, more than half are not going to cast a ballot in local, state, or national elections. In the last national election, 40% of all eligible voters didn’t bother to go to the polls, and the percentage was even higher among young voters.

Our kids are growing up on a steady diet of complaining about our elected officials. How laws are being pushed through that do not have your best interests at heart. As a firm believer in the ancient Jewish law of karma I think we get what we deserve. Our generation, either by our vote or our abstention, brought about this political atmosphere.

There are people out there that are planning your future for you and are banking on the likelihood that you are going to stay home on voting day. If you have strong feelings about the issues – trade, foreign policy, LGBTQ rights, the climate, gun violence – make your voices heard and elect those who are concerned with your health, safety, and welfare.

One young person told me recently that she was not interested in politics or voting because, quote, “the politicians have ruined our world.” Maybe. But they work for you and they need to hear from you!

On Yom Kippur we will read the famous Torah passage that commands us to “choose life.” Most folks think the important word in that phrase is “life.” Actually the important word is “choose!”

Jewish historian, philosopher, and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel was noted to have said: the opposite of justice is not injustice, it is indifference. The opposite of peace is not war, it is indifference. The opposite of love is not hate, it is indifference.

Right now the rule out there says that over half of you are not going to exercise your right to vote. Break that rule!

Rule #3

You kids are inheriting a planet from us that we have not taken very good care of. The statistics about rising sea levels and alarming temperatures and storm systems are dire. We react to it as though the problem is insurmountable and we have passed the tipping point for climate change and it is out of our hands. But that is old-people talk. That is vertical prophecy nonsense. That is the language of people looking 50 years down the line and saying: “well, I won’t be alive anyway.” But you and your children will be.

The direction we take from today onward is very much in your control. If you think the people in charge of protecting the environment are not doing a good job, replace them. If you think the systems and energy policies of our nation are wrong-headed, change them.

Our Torah commands us back in Genesis: “be good stewards of the planet.” That instruction has never been more consequential than at this moment in human history.

The rule says your generation and ours are too self-absorbed to do anything globally. Break that rule!

Rule #4 - Israel

Many of you kids will soon find yourselves at a university that has an active anti-Zionist campaign going. The folks who may confront you about the Jewish state have done their homework. So learn your facts about Israel and its unique position in the 4,000 year history of the Jewish people. It is ok to take issue with the policies of the Jewish state. The history of Israel is not without blemish. But it is not ok to deny Israel’s very right to exist. No other country on the face of this planet has its existence regularly called into question.

You may find yourselves engaged in passionate debate about the Jewish state. So learn about Israel’s role in the world, including the many attempts to live in peaceful coexistence with its neighbors. Make up your own mind. Visit Israel. Get to know the people of Israel, and the amazing globally healing actions that are coming out of that country.

The rule says that with every passing year fewer and fewer American Jewish youth are connecting with Israel. Break that rule!

And lastly, Rule #5 - Religious Affiliation

According to the polls on trends in religious groups in this country, 60% or more of you are going to choose to not be affiliated with any official religious institution whatsoever.

Sooner or later every human being on the planet finds some type of belief system. It may not be an officially recognized faith system like Christianity, Islam, or Judaism, but sooner or later you, and your children after you will fall into a set of beliefs. You can certainly leave it up to chance. I think associating with a Jewish institution that fosters Jewish values will be good for you.

Did religious school totally prepare you for life in the real world? Maybe not. But there are millions of people out there spewing warped value systems, and millions more who are seeking to belong to something. Just surf the net and you’ll find them. Online communities have their purpose, but they do not, for the most part, console the bereaved, feed the hungry, provide companionship during life’s hard moments, or put ancient hallowed values to work in a world of people in need.

The rule says many of you are going to turn away from your heritage. Please break that rule.

Elijah the vertical prophet did not believe much in the will and ability of humanity’s future. He didn’t have faith in the children.

And so there were consequences for Elijah: The Bible story tells us that God gets sick and tired of him, actually firing Elijah from the position of chief prophet! Elijah is pink slipped and replaced by another fellow. Turns out that God of Israel has more faith in our young people and in humanity than the prophet.

Equally strange is that Elijah’s death is never reported, as though to suggest that he lives on eternally and as a punishment of sorts he must bear witness to how the people behave. Elijah is therefore eternally condemned to appear as a featured guest with his own center stage seat at every bris that will ever occur in the Jewish future. That’s why we set a chair for Elijah at our covenantal ceremonies.

He doesn’t attend brises because he loves smoked salmon and knishes. No. Elijah is being forced to witness our undying Jewish devotion to the future. That we will not allow ourselves to get trapped with old festering ideas, but to embrace tomorrow.

In my opinion, any philosophy that cares more about today than tomorrow is not a Jewish philosophy.

And what is the most well-known thing about Elijah? As the Passover Seder draws to its conclusion, a child is asked to go open the door for that famous guest who is running on Jewish time. It is a child who greets Elijah.

Why does Elijah have to show up at every Seder? To witness eternally that the Jewish people are committed to freedom eternally. Not just with our own, but with everyone’s freedom. And not just about our historical freedom, but our future redemption. He gets there just in time to hear us say “next year in Jerusalem,” which is really shorthand for “let us do the Messianic work we need to do to make next year healthier, saner, cleaner, holier, gentler, and more peaceful than this last year was.”

It is a child who goes to the door! Always a child! Because Elijah the vertical prophet needs to look squarely in the eye the young person who is going to inherit tomorrow.

Alas, we live in a world of too much vertical prophecy. We are so sure of ourselves. We retreat into our camps. We have stopped listening to the other voice. Our immediate security in the present moment overrides our concern for the future. And when we do this, the first thing that gets sacrificed is the world of our children and grandchildren.

As the great horizontal prophet Yoel said: “The old shall dream dreams and the youth shall see visions.” Our greatest prophets were about investing in the future, and this, I believe, is where we need to firmly set our sights: knowing that the only way to ensure tomorrow is to invest in those who are being born today.

L’shanah tovah.