Honoring a Rabbi

       A few words from a rabbi we honored last night for his 13 years of service to our congregation before he moves on to become a senior rabbi in Vancouver, Canada.  We truly felt the value of Dan Moscovitz's words and deeds during his years with us.  He says these three points distill the messages he has given us:

       1.  Life is precious.  It is sacred.  And it is final.  We are all going to die.  We cannot control or change that.  The only thing we can influence is how we live.  So live a life of meaning and purpose.  This is the only life you get.  Fill it with holiness, fill it with meaning, fill it with love, with service to others, with intention and attention.  Don't waste it because no one gets two funerals.

       2.  Empathy.  Because we as Jews have suffered,  ancient Egypt, the Holocaust, we of all peoples should understand the pain and the suffering of others.  Be more observant of the lives and the needs of others.  Notice people and their challenges in life.  Understand them before you judge them.  Put yourself in their shoes, see the world through their eyes.  And be an empathetic expression and extension of God in the world and in their lives.

       3.  Live on Jewish time.  By that I mean the Jewish calendar, its seasons, holidays, observances.  They are an ingenious pattern for living a life of meaning.  Shabbat tells us to stop, to stop the rushing of our lives and each week to thank God for the blessings that surround us, the blessings of those in our lives.  Yom Kippur reminds us to make amends.  Chanukah of the power of the few in the face of the many to speak truth to power.  Regular Torah study in the weekly Torah portion gives insight and context to the present...as it honors our past.  To sit shiva removes us from the world to focus on what our world has lost, for we have lost one who is dear and profound to us; it is about the soul.  Tradition becomes a tradition because it had something of value to offer; if it didn't, we would have dropped it.  Follow it, observe it, honor it.

       The song sung by our cantor immediately after Dan's words, carried the theme that was heartfelt for this congregation:  "Because I knew you, I have changed...for good."