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We Might Be Giants

04/06/2015 07:24:33 AM

Apr6

Remarks on the occasion of the receiving the 2010 Federation of Jewish Men’s Club’s Herman Braunstein Humanitarian Award. January 9, 2011

As young associate rabbis we are deeply appreciative for the recognition and celebration of our nascent careers. Tonight, above all, we are celebrating the potential for building community anew.

We signed up for assistant positions to sit at the feet of masters and drink thirstily from their words. The opportunity to be in the presence of such dynamic, passionate, and extremely qualified leaders is a tremendous blessing and is the reason we agreed to grow along side them, some of us for several years now. Personally, I knew the benefits of our relationship were mutual when I noticed Rabbi Schulweis making occasional visits to my office to search Google or one of the electronic text libraries once catalogued and shelved in a library. What was remarkable was that he was looking for confirmation of his memory of where a particular text was found; while I was learning a piece of our literary tradition I had never seen or heard of before. Or, that I was to be doing was more than `understudy' work when Rabbi Feinstein, my teacher and mentor, entrusted me to expand and broaden the family-programming in his shul. These are simple moments, eclipsed by the overwhelming mission as rabbinic leaders to be more than purveyors of text and tradition; coming to learn that our task is to think and to act for the community and the world.

It has been said, "Few are the giants of the soul who actually feel that the human race is their family circle." (Freya Stark) There is a spirit of Jewish life here in Los Angeles that has broadened the scope of what Jewish community is and what it must become. We are the students of these visionaries - those who courageously saw Jews and Jewish life reclaiming a spiritual heritage of global responsibility. We delight in their wisdom and creativity.

We know it to be true by listening to the heroic tales of a great generation. We are bearing witness to an extraordinary era of community giants glowing in their endless resumes of institutional development and cultural radiance. These men and women of the community are giants in their professional occupations of business, aerospace, medicine, real estate, architecture, law. Giants of synagogue leadership, Federation support, building the State of Israel. Giants of their families - matriarchs and patriarchs who raised highly educated, articulate and devoted children and grandchildren. Giants of heart and spirit.

These were men and women of vision and direction - they gazed upon the empty landscape ofLos Angeles Jewish life and designed a masterpiece of institutional art - organizations and resources to reach every person they could touch. They were motivated by the simple understanding that what Jews do is build and sustain community.

These giants are the people, the men who have made the Federation of Jewish Men's Clubs great. Tonight, we must speak about a man like Jules Porter who captured the spirit of simcha through lens and film - a man who nearly 30 years ago envisioned a Jewish community big enough to find the brilliant and dashing Ron Wolfson and inspire him to publish the Art of Jewish Living Series. We stand here for these men and women, for Herman Braunstein, whose award for our growing leadership we so humbly accept this evening.

And we stand in awe unsure if our own achievements will reach their heights. How can we possibly measure up? The landscape of our Jewish community is quite different today than it was then. We may not be the generation that builds larger synagogues or federation buildings. In the world of 140 characters and nine seconds to make lasting impressions, it appears that from the current perspective we aren't building much. We are builders of virtual worlds. And what we do build, we call a sitn-city - for the act of building an institution in today's world is computer-generated at best.

Yet, we are more than the recipients of their success - we are the inspirations of their greatness. We will see farther by standing upon their shoulders. We will be the prophet Yoel's vision and see visions through their dreams. We are the teachers of their Torah, guiding a new generation through their revolutions of thought and practice. We are the facilitators of authenticity, guiding seekers of Jewish wisdom and practice through religious experiences that touch their minds, their hearts, and their souls. We may not be building institutions in our time, but we too are builders of communities. The communities we build may not always be in the four walls of physical structures, but will be in sanctuaries of people and relationships.

What better vantage point to celebrate tonight's theme, to assure the students of the ZieglerSchool and to continue to inspire the efforts of the FJMC than to envision a future of a collective Jewish home? To see a Jewish future with such capable and hopeful people is our inspirations as future Jewish leaders. We are tremendously grateful for everyone's presence tonight.

On a personal note, the Ziegler School for Rabbinic Studies is truly among my most cherished institutions and deeply worthy of our support tonight. I proudly claim to be in the first class under the inspirational leadership of Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson. In choosing Ziegler, I based my decision on one distinctive feature. I believe that The Ziegler School captured then and continues to inspire today's students with a spirit of sacred newness - an uncompromising excitement, openness, and sense of purpose that comes with Torah discovered through a new lens. I believe that the school's vision of Jewish life nurtured by innovation and integrity, will most certainly assure a vibrant future.

I am grateful to my colleagues for allowing me to speak on our behalf this evening. Our spouses, children, and families are worthy of our greatest appreciation and affection. For them and only because of them do we have the courage to serve the Jewish people, often long past hours that the job descriptions our respective positions require. We are grateful for their patience and support, and love.

We are grateful to God's presence here tonight and through the sacred tasks we perform to bring God' presence into the world. Thank you all.


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