By Rabbi Gustavo Kraselnik
How crazy all this is!
The word madness means, according to the third meaning given by the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy, “Action that, because of its anomalous character, causes surprise.” So here we are, a year and a half after the beginning of the pandemic, still surprised living an anomalous situation that does not end up being defined.
On this sacred night, on this Yom Hadin, this day of judgment in which we stand before the presence of God, I commented to you, here between you and me, that I have been procrastinating writing this sermon to such an extent that I thought I was not going to be able to think it through and express it as I like to, choosing each word wisely.
Is it that I’m getting old? Is it that after 25 years as a rabbi I no longer have anything interesting to say? Or maybe standing in front of the congregation on Rosh Hashanah for the 20th time (that’s right, I’m celebrating 20 years as Rabbi of Kol Shearith next March) I’m no longer able to present something relevant and inspiring? What anguish!
Ideas that come and go in my head, Rosh Hashanah classics. Some nice stories, some connections, but the truth is that I am not clear, or rather, I was not clear, what should be the focus and content for this sermon taking into account the extraordinary circumstances we are going through. Can we talk about the usual topics, God’s mercy, the liturgy, our teshuvah, in the midst of all this madness?
During the previous days, even today, many people asked me if many people would come to the synagogue. I have no idea. For the first time I find it hard to read the situation of the members of the congregation. So many variables, so much unpredictability…..
Should we open the small synagogue and the small Melhado hall? Attendance at the face-to-face prayer was not just a logistical issue, it was and is a much more complex concern about the situation we find ourselves in in relation to COVID-19.
Are we already beginning to leave the pandemic behind and return to the full face-to-face world? If so, the sermon should focus on the need to rebuild habits, to participate in community life and, at the same time, to emphasize the importance of acting with empathy and solidarity towards those whose situation has been affected, those whose income has been reduced as a consequence of the pandemic. Undoubtedly there are difficult times ahead that will require our commitment as individuals and as a congregation.
What if the pandemic is not ending, but we are in a lull before the arrival of a new wave as a result of the Delta variant or any other letter of the Greek alphabet? God willing this is not the scenario, but I heard from several colleagues in the U.S. that they have had to suspend Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur prayers this year because of the dramatic increase in cases. I want to believe that the vaccination rate and respect for biosecurity standards that we have had will prevent the arrival of a new wave, but if that is the situation, should the Rosh Hashanah message try to renew people’s hope and engage them to stay connected virtually, as we have been doing for the past 18 months?
So much uncertainty! And possibly the worst part of the case is that only in a few weeks we will know in what situation we were in today. If we were coming out of the pandemic or in a pause between two peaks. Too complicated.
Perhaps in the midst of this madness, the most sensible thing to do in the face of these two very dissimilar scenarios, so different, would have been to make two sermons for this Rosh Hashanah night, one for each scenario… two sermons for this night I think it would be asking too much, not for me, but for the congregation.
There I realized that this was my difficulty in writing this sermon: what to say when the place on which we stand is not firm? What to do in the face of such uncertainty? I was stuck. And as it always happens, at least in Hollywood movies, inspiration comes at the right time.
I have been reading for several days the book “The Wanderers” by the Polish writer Olga Tokarczuk, Nobel Prize in Literature in 2018, where there is a series of stories of different dimensions about travel experiences. And there I found a very short story called “Airsickness Bag.” In it he relates that on a flight between Warsaw and Amsterdam he finds a sentence written on the bottom of the famous bag that is placed on the backrests of the plane for when one is seasick: “12-10-06 Blind flight to Ireland. Destination Belfast. Student at the polytechnic university in Rzeszow.”
The author wonders with all curiosity what the experience of this student who left his city to go to an academic experience abroad might have been like. She longed to find the answer in another dizziness bag on some future trip, but that, says the resigned author, is not going to happen because as she writes: “I know that only restlessness and uncertainty induce to write in dizziness bags. Neither defeat nor the greatest success stimulates writing”.
It was a kind of revelation.
And in a kind of imaginary dizziness bag, ideas began to surface. I understood that it is precisely uncertainty that demands a message, it is the anguish of restlessness that forces us to say something relevant.
Possibly in a different format, in a different way, you will agree with me that no one had ever thought that it could be done in a dizziness bag, but it is in situations of anxiety, uneasiness and nervousness, when words really become essential. It is in the midst of so much madness that a little lucidity is required.
Crazy again. And back to our video of the “Mad Adams.”
We have been making Rosh Hashanah greeting videos for years, of all kinds. Some more sophisticated, others simpler; sometimes with the participation of people from the congregation, others with children and youth; some with catchier melodies, more sympathetic messages and generally they are always received in a very positive way. But this year’s exceeded all of the above. We received dozens of comments in person, by WhatsApp, on the networks telling us how much they liked the video imitating the crazy Adams.
And I think the video was liked – and this is a very personal interpretation – not only for seeing the whole team of the congregation interpreting so well the characters of the series but also because the message it sends is the only sensible message that can be affirmed in the midst of all this madness we are living.
And then I realize that there was my sermon, inside the video was my sermon for tonight. In a different format than usual, almost imperceptible, a testimony of the uncertainty of these times.
Let me tell you; Nurit recorded the song, Ruthy made the video, a new talent she discovered thanks to the pandemic, between the two of them they wrote the song and the whole team was in charge of the outfits. My only contribution was the message that opens and closes the video, remember it?
The video starts with the image of the words Kol Shearith Family in a font similar to the “Crazy Adams”, that’s a merit of Andrea, our Community Manager, and a sentence that says: “There is no doubt that 5781 was a crazy time…” (the original sentence said a crazy year but that font had no letter ñ and that’s why we had to change it, that’s another story).
Then comes the song with those funny images and those black and white effects that make it seem as if it were the 1964 original, and at the end, taking up the opening text he says: “And maybe this 5782 that begins is also a little crazy, but the most important thing is that we are together.”
This is my message for tonight: The most important thing is that we are together.
Perhaps it sounds too simple for such a solemn day. It may well be. In my defense, I can argue that you can’t be too sophisticated writing on a dizziness bag.
It may be simple, but believe me it is my deepest conviction.
In these complex and challenging times for each of us, hope lies in knowing that we will continue to be together, supporting each other and sharing life as we have always done.
In the face of the uncertainty of the future that worries us so much, we must remember that it is our reciprocal commitment to continue building this life together that is the pillar to which we must cling.
I count on you, and on you and on each other. We need each other
I have no idea how this story continues, if we are reaching the end of the tunnel or if we still have some more time left in the dark. What I do know is that if we are really together we will be able to get through the storm and bring the ship to dry land.
Shanah Tovah and may we be inscribed in the Book of Life.
