Our Sources of Strength and Joy

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Thank you for joining me. I'm Rabbi David Lyon from
Congregation Beth Israel in Houston. We're right in between Russiashana
and Yom Kipur. They're familiar holidays to many people. Russiashana,
the Jewish New Year, is a time when we wish
each other shah natova, a good year, a sweet year
filled with prosperity, happiness and peace. It brings us to

(00:26):
Yom Kipur, the day of Atonement, or the Day of Cleansing,
the most serious day of atonement on the Jewish calendar,
though there are others, and on this day we reflect
who we have been, who we are becoming. We make
amends with people, and we make amends with God. All
of us reach a point at some time in our life,

(00:48):
early on or in middle age, or near the end
of our days, when by all accounts we have the
duty and the privilege to look back at the life
we have lived. With God's help, we admit that we've
come a long way, either by time or experience or both,
we have achieved much and made a difference where we could.

(01:09):
We tried whether or not we are rich or poor,
or whether or not we are pleased with our lot
in life, or are filled with regrets. There is a
question that all of us ask ourselves at one time
or another, what is the source of my strength? Sometimes
we offer clever answers, or we suggest that it's God's will. Privately,

(01:32):
we may like to believe that the core strength that
animated us and kept us ground it truly came from
a sacred place. The answer to one of life's most
profound questions is only alluded to in life cycle events.
We see strength in our children and grandchildren, and in
what we were able to build over time. But the
very source of these answers can't be found in our

(01:55):
reminiscences alone. The source is found in the Song of
this where the Israelites rejoice in their victory after Pharaoh
and his men were drowned in the sea. Verses from
this song are a familiar part of regular liturgy during
weekday and Sabbath worship. They come from Exodus chapter fifteen,

(02:15):
in verse eleven. There we read the question, who is
like you, O Lord? Among the celestials? Who is like
you majestic and holiness, awesome and splendor working wonders? In
these verses we ask a rhetorical question that elevates and
separates God from all other beings. Obviously, no one is

(02:36):
like you, o Lord, even among all the gods that
are worshiped by others. The source of God's own extraordinary
strength is found in the verses that follow It says
in Exodus, chapter fifteen, verses twelve and thirteen, you put
your right hand out the earth swallowed them in your love.

(02:56):
You lead the people you redeemed in your strength them
to your holy abode. In verse thirteen, the words in
your Strength reveal that God's power to redeem a whole
nation wasn't just a miracle beyond our comprehension, nor was
it meant to be hidden. The text gives it away

(03:17):
when it tells us that God achieved these great e
ends by means of a source of strength. So what
is God's strength? And if we can know what the
source of that strength is, can we have some of
it too? Amid Rushia rabbinic interpretation provides an answer. It says,

(03:37):
for the sake of the Torah, that they were destined
to receive the words for your strength. Here is but
a designation for the Torah. As in the passage, the
Lord will give strength to God's people, a reference to
Psalm twenty nine. So God's strength is Torah. According to

(03:58):
rabbinic interpretation, not only is it within our grasp and
our comprehension, Torah also tells us, in case we didn't know,
that it is already part of us and in us.
In Deuteronomy chapter thirty, we read, surely this teaching which
I enjoin upon you this day, is not too baffling
for you, nor is it beyond reach. It is not

(04:21):
in the heavens that you should say, who among us
can go up to the heavens and get it for
us and impart it to us that we may observe it.
Neither is it beyond the sea that you should say,
who among us can cross to the other side of
the sea and get it for us and impart it
to us that we may observe it. Know the thing
is very close to you, in your mouth and in

(04:42):
your heart, to observe it. Moses speaks these words to
the Israelites before his death, restating what God wanted them
to know about their exodus from Egypt. That God's strength
redeemed to sustain them on their journey, and that the
gift of Torah was their life and the length of
their days. The sole reason for bringing the Israelites out

(05:05):
of Egypt was to bring them to Sinai for the
sake of giving them and all future generations through them
the Torah. The reference to Psalm twenty nine eleven, the
Lord will give strength under God's people, turns what could
have been only a matter of faith in God's blessing
for us into a tangible gift found in Torah teachings themselves.

(05:29):
The rabbis believed that these were words from Sinai delivered
and dictated to Moses. Modern Jews also accept the possibility
that Torah was inspired by God but written by human beings,
whatever their origin. Torrah teachings are the stories from which
we derive all our strength as a people, along with

(05:52):
our morals, ethics, rituals, and mission. And so at this
time of our life, young, middle age or older, and
especially at this time of the year between Rajashana and Yomkipor,
when we can see more years behind us than ahead
of us, we reflect on the lessons that guided us
most and that served us best. Numerous Torah lessons and

(06:16):
insights fill volumes of works that are often beyond our reach.
More likely, we've identified certain teachings and insights that served
as our moral god and compass throughout our life. It's
impossible to know which ones speak to each person, but
it is possible to highlight all of these teachings that
speak to most of us about the ways we choose

(06:37):
to make our way in life. And so it is
for each of us a time to choose perhaps one
lesson or two that become our personal golden rules, our mantras,
a foundation that allows us to build on it everything
that we need in our life. For some, it is

(06:58):
the classic golden rule, love your neighbor as yourself, says
the Lord, and so we conduct ourselves with an outlook
that places us in good favor with other people, giving
them the benefit of the doubt, loving them as we
love ourselves too. It isn't always easy to do, but

(07:19):
it is a golden rule that we can build a
good life on. Another golden rule that comes from Jewish
interpretation is this. It comes from Rabbi Hillel, a patient
Rabbinic teacher who taught what is hateful to you, do
not do to others. That is the whole Torah. All

(07:39):
the rest is commentary, go and learn it. It is
almost like love your neighbor as yourself, or like do
unto others as you would have them do unto you,
or do not do unto others as you would have
them not do unto you. But it is so simply
put to say, what is hateful to you, do not

(08:01):
do to others. Because we know what we love, what
we like, we know it gives us pleasure, and we
think we know what gives other people pleasure too. But
I think even more clearly, crystal clear, we know what
we don't like, what hurts us, what offends us, what
we dislike completely. And so when we ask ourselves what

(08:25):
is hateful to me? I think the list would be
very long, not because we're negative, but because the world hurts,
and sometimes the world hurts us. And because we're so
aware of the world's pain and how it impacts us,
we can answer that question pretty easily. And so what

(08:45):
is hateful to us do not do to others? All
the more reason to be painfully aware of other people's
needs and wants too, and to be sure that when
we behave in their company or on their behalf, we
appreciate what they really need. Of course, they need our
love and a hug and our appreciation. But it's so

(09:08):
simple and easy to hurt another person if we are
mindless or just simply lacking care. What is hateful to
you do not do to others? And then Hillel says,
that is the whole Torah. Can you imagine six hundred
and thirteen commandments exist in the Torah and many more
beyond the Torah in rabbinic literature, But that is the

(09:31):
whole Torah, the whole meaning of a good life lived. Well,
what is hateful to you do not do to others?
That is the whole Torah. Go and learn it, because
the rest is commentary. Just go and do. As you
begin to encounter people and remember what is hateful to

(09:51):
you do not do to others, you'll discover that the
commentary flows from those engagements and encounters. For example, just
last night, as it happens to be, I sat at
a table of eleven other people, religious figureheads, business figureheads
in my city. It was a marvelous evening where we

(10:12):
opened up and talked casually but also professionally about the
world that we're sharing and how to find common ground
between people so that some of the hurt in the world,
because there is so much of it, can be diminished
in favor of humanity, graciousness, and kindness. And speaking to Christian, Catholic, Jewish,

(10:38):
and Muslim leaders in the room, we agreed that in
a world filled with so much pain, we have to
begin with peace, and peace begins by treating other people
with kindness. We may not have the time to figure
out all the differences and put pieces back together again
right away, but we can't do any of that unless

(11:01):
we have peace first. So what is hateful to us
do not do to others? Means talking kindly, giving someone
the benefit of the doubt, giving someone a second chance,
accepting someone's apology, and walking hand in hand figuratively or
literally to be sure that what we want to accomplish,

(11:23):
what we want to see, is the kind of strength
that we give God credit for not only creating through
the wisdom of teachings like Torah or your own sacred text,
but also by giving them to us. And that's why
the rabbis taught in their interpretations, what is the source
of God's own strength? And they found it in the Torah,

(11:47):
in God's strength God would bring the Israelie people to
God's holy abode. And what is God's strength? They said,
nothing but Torah itself. And what did God do with Torah?
Gave Torah to the people who stood at Sinai, and
through them to the generations that would follow. What a
beautiful inheritance that we have embraced, we have been faithful to,

(12:14):
and we have transmitted from generation to generation, from grandparents
to parents to children, so that even to this day,
those teachings, though written and inscribed so long ago, continue
to remain relevant because of our ability to turn them
and turn them and find modern interpretations to speak to

(12:35):
us in this day. And while all the circumstances don't
exist that did in ancient times to provide us the
privilege to perform those commandments, we still learn how important
they were for the sake of a sacred community. And
so even we, in our broken communities and broken places,
have every opportunity each day to find in our own

(12:58):
sacred text strength to be what we need to be,
to put pieces back together and build strength and trust
and peace together. So love your neighbor as yourself, Or
what is hateful to you, do not do to others.
I suspect that you have many more that you might
add a list. Pick one, pick two, live by it.

(13:21):
If it doesn't work for you, try another, But try
to do something that connects you to the long thread
that is tied to our sacred texts from long ago.
The inheritance of those texts are meaningful to all of us.
I'm Rabbi David Lyon from Congregation Beth Israel and Houston.
To listen again or share this message, please find it

(13:42):
at Sunny ninety nine dot com or on the iHeartRadio app.
By podcast is Heart to Heart with Rabbi David Lyon.
I think as the week continues, as jomp Poor comes
and goes, we all look forward to what follows. We
call it zman Singh the season of our joy, because

(14:02):
it is not only in serious contemplation where we spend
some time, but most often in Judaism and many other
faith traditions, in living life with joy, with fullness of heart,
by embracing what God has given us and using them
for good and for blessing. Let's begin the new year
that way. Whether you're Jewish or not, and if you

(14:26):
see a person who is Jewish, a friend or family member,
you can say shah nah tova a happy new Year,
even as I wish you all of you the very
same for good life, peace and blessing and good health
between you, strangers and newcomers to the world in which
we live and we share. Let God's blessing be the

(14:49):
source of the joy that each of us seeks for
ourselves and those who are touched by our life. Thank
you for joining me. I look forward to being with
you again next time. Five