Sermons

December 16, 2011 - Hanukkah Message

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In the annual cycle of Torah readings, this is the season of dreams. Our Torah portions at this time of year are full of dreamers. When I was here two weeks ago we read about Jacob's dream of a ladder that reaches to Heaven with angels going up and down on it. This week we read about Joseph's dreams of the sun and moon and stars bowing down to him. Next week Joseph, our young dreamer, goes on to interpret Pharaoh's dreams about fat cows and skinny cows, thus saving the Egyptians and his own family from famine and starvation.

I started thinking that perhaps it is no accident that we read about dreams and dreamers at the darkest time of year. Just as we burn candles to bring light into the darkness, we need to remember dreams especially in dark times. Rabbi Jill Hammer in The Jewish Book of Days points out that if you take the Hebrew word for dream – chalom – and reverse the first two letters, you get the word – lechem – which means bread.

As I was considering the relationship between dreams and bread, I heard on the radio that charitable giving for the year 2011 is down 6% from last year, even though the needs continue to be very great. On the radio a woman from Project Bread spoke about the problem of hunger in America, and the problem is even more severe in other parts of the world, especially in Africa where famine and starvation are not just a story in the Torah but a present-day reality.

In Jacob’s dream God appears to him, promising to be with him and protect him and make his descendents numerous and prosperous. When he wakes up, Jacob makes a vow – if God protects me on this journey and gives me lechem – bread – to eat and clothing to wear, then of all that God gives me, I will give back a tithe – a tenth of what I have. Jacob is one who dreams and then turns his dreams into action, and that impulse to dream of a better life and a better world and then commit ourselves to helping others becomes part of who we are as a people.

Jews are visionaries and dreamers and activists whose task is to help repair the world. Tikkun Olam – repair or transformation of the world – has become a central aspect of Judaism. In Living Judaism, the book I am using for my Intro to Judaism course, Rabbi Wayne Dosick borrows the image of a ladder from Jacob's dream in describing Tikkun Olam. He says that the top of the ladder is "a world without hatred and bigotry and war, a world without disease and hunger and poverty and illiteracy and pain, a world of peace and serenity, of harmony and tranquility, of goodness, righteousness, compassion, and love… The rungs of the ladder are the steps that humankind must climb… This is the journey of discovery and accomplishment that brings the world from its beginnings to its ultimate destination."

Rabbi Dosick points out that some evils have already been eradicated from the world – he uses the examples of smallpox and polio. Though much remains to be done and new diseases arise, it is possible in one generation to make real progress toward transforming the world. Rabbi Dosick maintains: "If we each try hard enough, if we each reach up and stretch just as far as we can, then – every once in a while – the members of an entire generation can witness the end of one more impediment, one more ill or evil."

He believes that there is one evil that could be eradicated in our own time if we have the will. He says: "We have the ability to wipe out human hunger, to make sure that no human being on the face of this earth is ever hungry again. We have the fields, we have the seeds, we have the knowledge, to grow enough food so that every single person on this planet can eat. Clarence Birdseye discovered the technique of freezing food in order to preserve it, and Wilbur and Orville Wright discovered the airplane, the way to transport food from place to place."

"Tragically," he says, "we do not use the knowledge and technology we have.

We let money and politics get in the way. One billion people go to bed hungry every single night, and more than 14 million children die each year of hunger or hunger-related disease… We, in this generation, may not be able to stop all warfare, cure all disease, or bring everlasting peace. But there is one thing we can do. If only we would act swiftly and courageously, millions of human beings would live, instead of starving to death. Then one of the horrors of our planet would be gone and our children would have one less problem to solve when it comes their turn to stand on our shoulders, when it becomes their turn to make their contribution to the process of perfecting the world."

So I come back to chalom and lechem – dreams and bread. The Torah tells us that Joseph is seventeen years old when he begins to dream. It's easy to be a dreamer at seventeen. Most young people are filled with hope for their own lives and for transforming the world. What is more of a challenge is to hold onto those dreams as we get older – when we feel discouraged because things didn't work out the way we imagined; because change is slow and there are so many problems to solve. And sometimes we also stop dreaming because the world has been good to us and we take our blessings for granted and forget that we need to give back.

When I first came to Temple B'nai Israel, I gave a sermon on Yom Kippur about tithing – urging people in these hard economic times to give more, not less. It's a message that needs to be repeated – for myself as much as for anyone else – because it is really hard to do, especially when so many things press on our limited resources. At this season of giving, I think it is important to remember who we are – we are dreamers and doers. We are a people who imagine a better world and work to bring it into being in whatever ways we can.

Hanukkah is not as big a gift-giving holiday as Christmas, but we are part of the culture that surrounds us, and we too get caught up in spending money on gifts during this season.

This year, at this dark time, I want to remind you to be dreamers – to focus less on giving gifts and more on giving bread. There are many organizations that fight hunger including Mazon, the Jewish response to hunger. If you already contribute to organizations that fight hunger, consider contributing more. If you do not, think about what you would give if you believed that we could end hunger in our lifetime.

Consider writing or calling your elected officials to ask what they are doing to help end hunger. Our congregation makes meals for the Salvation Army and Hands across the Table. If you have not yet helped, consider joining that effort this year.
This year, imagine that if we worked together, we could end hunger in the world. This year we could commit ourselves more fully to turning chalom into lechem – dreams into bread.

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