Gifts For The Future

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Episode Transcript

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Thank you for joining me. I'mRabbi David Lyon from Congregation Beth Israel in
Houston. At this time of years, I've noted before, the Jewish community
all over the world is experiencing amonth called el Ul. It is the
Hebrew month that precedes the Hebrew monthof Tishre, and on the first day
of the month of Tishre is RussiaShannah the Jewish New Year. The Jewish

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New Year this year will be fivethousand, seven hundred and eighty four,
according to the Rabbis of Older,to their calculations using the Torah itself,
they figure that the world is fivethousand, seven hundred and eighty four years
old. You and I would saythey were a few billion years off.
I agree, But to them thisis an opportunity to say happy birthday to

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the world and appreciate deeply how weare stewards of a world, a land,
and a place that we have beengiven, created by somebody, something
larger than ours. We call God, the eternal One, ruler of the
universe. So we are careful abouthow we prepare for the new year,
and use the month of Elul,which precedes Tishre, as a ramp as

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a starting point to prepare ourselves forwhat will be the ten days of repentance
from Russia Shana to Yumki Poor,a time of reflection, introspection, preparation,
including renewal, and making ourselves wholeagain in relationship with God and with
each other. During this month ofAllul, leaning up to the high holy

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days, we also are reading fromthe fifth book of the Torah, in
the Book of Deuteronomy. There wefind moses final words and instructions to the
Israelites. The Israelites are about toend to the Promised Land, but not
with Moses. Moses learns that hisdays are coming to an end, and
so as he contemplates and regards thisfinality seriously, he also considers the job

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and role that he has been incalled by God to be a unique prophet
to the people, and so Mosesprepares his final words and takes his final
opportunity to tell them what they mustdo to avail themselves of God's blessings and
to enjoy the fruits of the land. Some of Moses' most important words are

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even repeated for emphasis. Sometimes weask the question, why does the Torah
repeat itself well If you've ever lookedinside at Torah, and some of you
have, you'll note that the touris written without punctuation, italicize letters,
or bowl fonts, So there's nomeans to emphasize important points or lessons unless
they're repeated. Repeating something even todayhelps people remember what we have said,

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and sometimes we do add even ourown verbal emphasis to be sure that it's
been heard. But we take,for example, in Deuteronomy eighteen, we
read They're a very familiar verse.It says justice justice. Shall you presume
it's likely that we remember this first, because repetition does work. Now,

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the commentators of old unpack that forus to explain that it wasn't just repetition
for repetition's sake, or so thatwe might remember it, but even to
suggest something else, that if wedon't find justice in one court or before
one panel of judges, then weshould go to another. It really does
give rise to the idea of anappellate court. But the notion of repetition

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is important, and certainly it isn'tlost on us, because we do it
too. Thousands of years later.Now we have the same privilege to tell
our children and our grandchildren what theymust know for the sake of their future.
Our children aren't entering a promised land, of course, but they are
entering new phases of their lives thatwe told them will be filled with all

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their dreams. And especially at thisseason, approaching labor day, approaching the
fall term of school, whether childrenare still in elementary school or starting high
school or college, graduate school,or a new job, they really are
entering, in effect, our promisedland they've never known before, and which
we've told them is filled with allthe opportunities they've been preparing to enjoy.

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And when we tell them that thisis a land of their dreams, it's
really our way of saying that's whatAmerica is. It's still about what our
ancestors who came here believe for themselvestoo, And whether or not it's completely
true in all the ways we imaginedit and dreamed it doesn't change the fact
that America is a remarkable land ofopportunity and we want the next generation to

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trust in it. That level oftrust is something that goes with us,
because even we who are older,I presume, are also looking for opportunities
in the new year, in thefall season, as well, as we
enter new stages of our life.It isn't about only lamenting what is past,
but looking forward to what is coming. We appreciate and cherish what has

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been, what has gone before us, but with days and years ahead,
we have much to look forward toas well. What will we teach others,
but also what will we teach ourselves. In Judaism, we have a
tradition of writing what are called ethicalwills, different than an estate will or

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living will, and ethical will describesthe moral teaching, lessons and hopes that
a family head might want to impressupon the next generation, much like Moses
did. There's no limit to whatit can contain. It might be ritual
ethics, like keeping the holidays,making certain holidays which are related to your
own faith tradition at home and inyour house of worship. It might be

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ethical duties like giving in Judaism zitakato feed the hungry how's the homeless.
Those are charitable gifts of money orresources in kind goods to help others with
what they don't have. It mightbe a general wish that, as we
call it in Hebrew tikun olam,to participate in improving the world maybe that

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should be a priority. Or asyou review and read about your own faith
tradition's hopes for the future, whatwill be the values, teachings, moral
lessons that you'll lift up, repeat, and emphasize for those who are listening
carefully to what your expectations are forthem. Similarly, ethical wills can include

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expectations for other ways of participating inone's faith tradition. In Judaism, we
prize education and study, a childcoming to Torah at barnbab Mitz at the
age of thirteen, and devotion toto the Jewish homeland in Israel. Now
there is no time, and anethical will must be prepared, and frankly,

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there's nothing to say that one shouldbe prepared at all. But at
this time of year, a timeof transition, a time of hopefulness for
what we wish each other will bea sweet new year, we Readuuteronomy and
prepare for the high holy days.The idea of an ethical will seem so
timely now. If you were toprepare an ethical will for your children or

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grandchildren, or those who are closeto you and your circle of friends,
what would you prioritize in your documentfor them? I'm not asking you to
think about your immortality or your owndemise, but as we appreciate life's fragility,
life's precious quality. No matter whatage we are living in, what
is it we hope that those whoare close to us will do, will

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be? What will they aspire to? What values would they live by?
For my congregation or those who areJewish, I would ask the question,
what Jewish lessons, Jewish wisdom,Jewish hopes? Would you urge others to
keep? What rituals would you likethem to observe? Would it be Shabbat

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Jewish holidays? A your side anniversary, that is, the annual remembrance of
someone's death, not their birthday,but the anniversary of their death. Is
there a Jewish hero you would highlightas a role model to learn from,
Someone from the Bible, someone fromhistory, from the modern age, or
even a time in Jewish history thatwe should always remember. Is it only

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the destruction of the Temple two thousandyears ago? Is it the horrors of
the Spanish Inquisition or the programs inRussia? Is at the Holocaust in the
twentieth century? Something else that weshould be mindful of, not only within
the smaller circle of Jewish history.But what about world history? What are
the moments in world history that weshould help younger generations no one understand,

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not only so that we are notdoomed to repeat them, but always so
that we may learn from them too. A Jewish ethical will doesn't have to
replace a general ethical will, butthe point at this time of years to
prioritize our commitment to God, toTorah and to our people. That's the
message for the Jewish community. Andwhen any of us sit down to write

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such an ethical will, there's somany new ways to do it. Moses
spoke to the people. Others scribetheir words, Others use punctuation and bold
print. As the printing press andother means of communication were developed and invented,
today we have so many more means. Perhaps you'll use a computer to

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write and edit your words to getthem just right, or record a video
of yourself speaking the words you wantthem to hear. We often invite people
to do that, to leave alegacy in a video that can be watched
by family members or community members atany time. So even when one dies,
their words live and might be strangeor perhaps even eerie to see them

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in video. But that's the timewe're living in that there's always a perpetual
memory of somebody by their voice,by their video, and we continue to
learn from them by hearing their words. We can record a video of ourselves
speaking those words that we want othersto hear, or we can dictate our
words as the computer writes them forus. That's an easy way to do

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it too. Today there's almost noreason not to do it. Rather than
repeat yourself as Moses had to doand other people don't like to hear all
the time, we can use boldand italisized print, underlined for emphasis,
and even a few exclamation points tohighlight our passion about certain issues. I

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would urge you, if you're inspiredto do this at this time of year,
or perhaps even later, to sitdown and make some notes for yourself.
What is it that has been soimportant to you in your life?
What are the principles and lessons thathave guided you that have helped you over
the most challenging times in your life? And how has gratitude played a role
in your life to help you throughtough times and to appreciate the joyful times

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too, So that we don't takethem for granted, but we appreciate that
they are our blessings to enjoy andalso to share. It really does take
some time before we sit down andwrite, or scribe or record the lessons
and teachings we want to share withothers, and I think it's a wonderful
exercise for ourselves. So even ifit takes more than a day, a

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week or a few months, ultimatelythe words are found. And I would
leave a blank page or a fewminutes in your recording so that you might
return to these documents and add alittle bit more. Now we're taught that
we should live each day as ifit were our last. We truly don't

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know how long we have. We'retaught to live each day as if it
were our last, not so thatwe can party hearty, but rather so
we can live each day and fillit with a mitzvah, a good deed
to make a difference. And thenif it were our lives today, we
will know that we've done all thatwe can, and so will God,
who ultimately judges us. So thatblank page or little extra time on the

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video might be room to grow andexpand your lessons, but also to let
others know that you could not anticipatewhen your end would come, and that
there's always room for growth, fornew meaning, for exploring how we need
to unfold our life and our dasto become who we are intended to be.
In Deuteronomy we also read in chaptersix, you shall impress them upon

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your children. How very often thisis translated you shall teach them to your
children, but teach us not Agood translation of the Hebrew word vishi nantam
vishinnantam really means to impress upon yourchildren by repeating, on modeling, by
showing, and if we do,we have greater assurance that our children and

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grandchildren might not only learn from us, but will follow the best example that
we can set for them. Likethe commandments in Torah, and ethical will
is a means of impressing upon ourchildren all that we want them to do
and to be in the future.The question that remains is how will you
begin. I'm Rabbi David Lyon fromCongregation Beth Israel in Houston. If you'd

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like to listen again or share thismessage, please find it at my podcast
called Heart to Heart with Rabbi DavidLyon. You can find it at Sunny
ninety nine dot com on the iHeartMediaapp. I'm so glad that another season
is coming. First of all,it's hot everywhere. We are fires,
raging rains, pouring floods, washingpeople away and their homes and businesses.

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It is a fraught time in theworld for many different reasons. Let's find
hope in tomorrow by preparing those whowill follow us with words of hopefulness,
courage, aspirations that we build fromour own life experience. As having known
life and its hardships, we alsocan demonstrate that after our hardships and learning

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from them, there is joy andhope to follow. So write it down,
repeat it, share it with thosewhom you love, and you'll know
in your own way that you've helpedthem prepared to get out from behind the
troubles and obstacles that we face.Life can be hard, but it can
always be filled with hope, wisdomand peace. Thank you for joining me,

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and I look forward to being withyou again next time.