Pledge 25 Off to a Fast Start

Below are remarks about Pledge 25 that were delivered at this year's Rosh Hashanah services by Brian Israel.

Rosh Hashanah 5770 Brian D. Israel In the ancient text Pirkei Avot, Ethics of our Fathers, the High Priests of the Second Temple period share with us short sayings that express important views about Jewish living and life in general. These proverbs provide a rich collection of delicious philosophical nuggets which can guide us through so many aspects of our lives. Today I wish to focus on a famous saying from the first chapter of Perkei Avot. In this section, we learn from Shimon the Righteous that the world rests on three things: on Torah, Service to God and Acts of Loving-kindness. It is commonly understood that Torah refers to study, service to God refers to prayer, and acts of loving-kindness refers to the perfection of creation through generosity and loving acts extended to others. Thus we have, from Rabbi Shimon, a three legged stool. Sitting atop this stool will not solve the mysteries of the universe, but it provides a stable perch from which we can approach God and peer further over the horizon of daily life. And this three-legged stool also forms the foundation of our community. Our Ohr Kodesh mission statement explicitly references, as the objective of our institution, to pray, to study and perform acts of kindness together as a Jewish community. In so many ways Ohr Kodesh achieves its mission. We are a community of warmth and caring, service to others, where all are welcome, and where love of Torah is embraced, encouraged and enabled. We are a place where the ladder of Jewish learning and prayer extends infinitely. There is no limit to how high you can climb. And yet, it does not matter where you are on that ladder. Ohr Kodesh is not a place of judgment. Where-ever you may be on that ladder, you belong here. Whether you have been a member for 6 days or 6 decades, the goal of this synagogue is to provide a place where each of us can develop and grow our own expression of Judaism, our own unique blend of learning, of prayer and acts of loving-kindness.

How did Ohr Kodesh come to embrace this beautiful mission? In large part it occurred 25 years ago. 25 years ago, Lyle Fishman arrived at Ohr Kodesh with a profound sense of purpose that has not diminished, not even a sliver, since then. That sense of purpose was to build on the strengths of Ohr Kodesh and preserve, perpetuate, and propel a community of Jews devoted to each other, to authentic prayer, to in-depth study and to overflowing acts of chesed or loving-kindness. In countless ways Rabbi Fishman is the life-force behind our strength as a community. A single individual serving the pastoral and spiritual needs of well over a 2000 individuals is no easy task. And yet Rabbi Fishman rarely forgets a name, an interesting fact about your family, your city of origin. In 25 years, I doubt there has been even a single instance when Rabbi Fishman was unable to make a connection between a newcomer entering our sanctuary and a current member. Thankfully, ours is a congregation of many learned people and a diversity of perspectives. And perhaps some of us have not agreed with every sermon or position of our Rabbi over 25 years. That is natural, even desirable. Ours is a community that encourages respectful debate. But one thing is beyond debate: and that is the warmth, the seriousness, the authenticity, the Jewish depth, the passion and devotion to Ohr Kodesh and the earnest goodness of our Rabbi for the last 25 years. And so we must come together to celebrate Rabbi Fishman’s 25 years of remarkable service to our community But how? How can we adequately commemorate the contributions of our beloved Rabbi? In my view, a mere gala event would not do. Instead, in honor of Rabbi Fishman, we need to collectively tighten our embrace of our Rabbi’s core vision: to build a community of prayer, study and acts of loving-kindness. Instead of an evening of celebration, we need a year of action. Instead of extended speeches, we need to extend ourselves. In the past we have used such moments as an opportunity to ask for money. In my view, this moment is not a moment to raise funds, this is a moment to raise ourselves. To lift ourselves. To pray better. To study harder. And to perform more acts of generosity and love. And so I am asking each of you, in honor of the Rabbi’s 25 years at Ohr Kodesh, to give 25 hours over the course of this next year. 25 hours that you would not otherwise do of prayer, study or acts of loving-kindness. You choose your own way to give 25 hours, whether its attending minyan, joining a class or participating in a social action activity. We are calling this year-long program “Pledge 25 in Honor of Rabbi Fishman” and yes, we even have a committee. The Pledge 25 committee is chaired by longtime members Gary and Abby Simms. There are no timekeepers or punch cards. Only your decision that you will help honor Rabbi Fishman’s 25 years of service at Ohr Kodesh by contributing 25 hours of your time over this year to some combination of prayer, study, or acts of loving-kindness that you would not otherwise do. You can do so however you like. At home, here, or elsewhere. In order to help us achieve this goal, Gary and Abby, with significant help from Shira and Trudy Jacobson and Daphna Sher, have put together a Pledge 25 book which will be distributed at Yom Kippur. The Pledge 25 book is a catalogue of opportunities, a gourmet menu of Torah, Service to God and G’millut Chasidim. The Pledge 25 book will compile everything that Ohr Kodesh has to offer so you can design your own program, your own 25 hour commitment. And we have some exciting new programs just for this year to help us honor Rabbi Fishman. For example, we will have an outstanding new lecture series of prominent speakers, once a month. These are important people from all over the world who have immense respect for Rabbi Fishman and who want to help us celebrate this milestone. On October 25th, this special speaker series will kick off with Rabbi Donniel Hartmann, the head of the Shalom Hartmann Institute in Jerusalem. Later months will include internationally known artist Jeannet Kuvin Oren, Rabbi Joshua Haberman and others. Another feature of Pledge 25 will be several short mini-courses, taught by Ohr Kodesh members. Paula Shoyer will teach how to make parev desserts, Dr. Michael Kay will teach about Jewish observance in the modern world, Debbie Rosenman will teach us how to comfort the mourner, just to name a few. A third innovative part of Pledge 25 will be a series of month-long courses taught by, who else, Rabbi Fishman. We are making him work for his honor but, true to form, he was thrilled to help. The classes will be taught on Tuesday nights and each month will be a different topic, ranging from prayers to poets to Biblical heroines. All of this information will be in your Pledge 25 book and will be updated regularly on our website and our new blog. Pledge 25 is just one piece of an exciting year to come. We currently have a task force in place to completely modernize our website. In addition, a group is currently exploring the placement of solar panels on our roof. My own dream is to have solar panels providing half of our building’s electricity needs by next Rosh Hashanah. And last but not least, led by Susan Finkelstein and Michael Lerner, a group of congregants is currently engaged in a comprehensive effort to re-imagine education at Ohr Kodesh for the 21st Century. This program, called CE 21, is critical to our shared goal of creating a lasting, innovative institution for ourselves and our children and grandchildren. So please join me for the ride and we will create great things together. Where to begin? Begin by pledging right now to devote 25 hours this year of prayer, study or acts of chesed that you would not otherwise do. That’s 2 hours a month as a way to honor our Rabbi’s 25 years of service. This pledge won’t cost you a dime. But the return will be huge. In exchange for your pledge, you will claim your own personal seat upon the three legged stool that also supports all that is good in the world. The last saying of Pirkei Avot, Chapter 5, verse 26, we learn that “as is the effort so is the reward.” Join me in this effort to honor Rabbi Fishman, and the rewards will be overflowing for all of to share.

Brian D. Israel
Ohr Kodesh President