Shana Tovah and Happy Jew Year: A Sermon from Rabbi Baram

Hey everyone. Just want to say Shana Tovah to all my fellow Jews out there celebrating Rosh Hashana. Even though it was a short work week this week thanks to Labor Day and now the High Holy Days, I still felt more than ready to take a break from the usual obligations and stress of the everyday and think a little bit bigger-picture about myself and the world around me. I just got back from a fun and uplifting Rosh Hashana service put on by the Jewish young professionals group Valley Ruach, at Adat Ari El synagogue in Valley Village, CA. At the service, I gave a short speech about Rosh Hashana and how religion, spirituality, and Judaism can still be meaningful and relevant even in these crazy times, in which everywhere you look some nutjob seems to be abusing religion to further some extreme political agenda. To me, that's not what religion should be about, and Rosh Hashana is a reminder of that. So, taking a slight break from my usual movie reviews and pop cultural musings, here's the speech I gave today at services:. Obviously it was meant for a room full of 20 and 30-something Jews, but hopefully it translates.



Sometimes, like everyone else, I get frustrated with religion. All you have to do is read the news and see all of the crazy things being done in the name of religion, and you can’t help but feel a little jaded. Across the world, there are wars fought in the name of religion, acts of terrorism committed in the name of religion, and oppressive regimes who deny basic human rights and equality, all in the name of outdated religious beliefs. Here in America, we live in a country that was founded partly on the concept of religious freedom, including the right to have no religion or belief in God. And yet, we’ve been bombarded of late with people using a very specific view of faith and religion to push their own political agendas.

In Washington, Glenn Beck led a rally aimed at “bringing faith back to America” – and it was another example of the extreme religious right creating an unnecessary and dangerous atmosphere of fear and paranoia in our country. In Florida, we see that same mob mentality at work as church members prepare to burn copies of the Quran, exhibiting recklessness, ignorance, and disrespect. Here in LA, everyone loves to joke about crazy celebrities who somehow subscribe to the beliefs of Scientology - otherwise smart people who have convinced themselves that an alien dictator named Xenu brought billions of his people to earth 75 million years ago.

When you look at all of the abuses of religion that have and still do occur, it can be confusing to say the least. Some might simply dismiss religion as a whole and go the Bill Maher route of stringent atheism.

And yet, when I think of Rosh Hashanah, and what it stands for, well, it’s a great reminder of what makes Judaism in particular so viable and vibrant. To me, at its core, being Jewish is not about having all the answers, but about asking all the questions – and that’s what makes it so unique. I think it’s why so many of us here are able to embrace our Jewishness even as friends of other religious persuasions face serious doubts about their faith. On Rosh Hashanah, the focus is squarely on us and on what we can do to be better as people. How can we be nicer, kinder, more thoughtful, less judgmental? It’s an open-ended question, and not when with a simple or standardized answer. And it’s not just about apologizing for mistakes. It’s not like in the world of pop stardom where you can do something awful, say you’re sorry a few days later, and that’s that. That doesn’t fly on Rosh Hashanah.

Rosh Hashanah is a time to be introspective, to forget about our daily routine and give serious thought to who we are as people. Day to day, we might be concerned with jobs, money, and other obligations. But Rosh Hashanah is when we think about things from a different perspective. Not just whether we’re happy with our social or professional status, but if we’re satisfied with ourselves as human beings.

And really, that to me is what makes religion, and particularly Judaism, a still-important part of life. It gives us a chance to ask the big questions and to focus on spirituality, mental well-being, and our larger place in the world. At the same time, it’s an active, participatory process. In Judaism, and here on Rosh Hashanah, we find community, tradition, and purpose.

We’re living in a time when religion can seem particularly scary and even harmful. But religion doesn’t have to be about imposing politics on others, or dividing believers from non-believers, or imposing mob rule via brainwashing. Here on Rosh Hashanah, it’s very simple – we take this time to step away from our everyday lives, to be part of a community, to embrace spirituality, to ask the big questions, and to think about how we can better ourselves and the world around us. It’s simple but important – and it’s a concept that we, as Jews, can be very proud of.




Thanks - once again, Shana Tovah!