Thoughts on synagogue life and leadership from USCJ's Bob Leventhal

Monday, December 3, 2012

Leadership Lessons from "Lincoln"


In the movie “Lincoln” we see that Abraham Lincoln is committed to the vision of securing the elimination of slavery. Having fought and lost so much, he feels the decision to assert this value needs to be institutionalized in the Constitution via the 13th Amendment. He is afraid that Congress, under different leadership, might back slide.
Steady Values: Equality is Self Evident
Lincoln is driven by core values. In a quiet moment in the staff room of the White House he addresses two young officers. While Lincoln had very little formal education he was an avid reader- a lifelong learner. In the film he recalls a lesson he learned while reading Euclid for the soldiers.
Euclid's first common notion is this:  'Things which are equal to the same thing are equal to each other.'   That's a rule of mathematical reasoning.  It's true because it works.  Has done and always will do.  In his book, Euclid says this is self-evident.  You see, there it is.  Even in that 2,000 year old book of mechanical law, it is a self-evident truth that things which are equal to the same thing are equal to each other."
Flexible in Strategy
The future ot he United States  is anything but self evident. While steady in purpose ( values focused)  he is flexible in strategy. He is willing to use all of his strengths and assets to achieve his vision. He needs to come up with votes from conservative Republicans and a smaller number of Democrats who have been voted out of office in the election of 1864 but who can still vote in the lame duck session.  He uses worldly tactics on behalf of larger heavenly cause- the protection of equality under law.
We don’t recommend that you bribe your board. Visionary presidents, however, can learn from Lincoln’s tenacity. Lincoln can really take it. His integrity is questioned. His wife complains about all the times where he has not been emotionally available.  He is accused of sacrificing innocent lives. He is charged with being a radical and for being too passive. As Peter Drucker has argued, leadership is often a “foul weather sport”. From the horrors of the battlefield to the ugliness of the Congress, Lincoln has to lead in challenging times.
Harry Truman once said, “I learned that a great leader is a man who has the ability to get other people to do what they don't want to do and like it”. Most Americans did not want to abolish slavery. Certainly few wanted to give slaves the right to vote. In going for the 13th Amendment, Lincoln’s vision, while self evident to him, was out ahead of other leaders. He had to find creative ways to help people catch up with him.
Humble and Courageous- Bowed head and bended knee
“Lincoln” opens with a scene of Lincoln sitting in a war camp talking to two black soldiers. One is challenging Lincoln on his commitment to slave rights. The soldier is anything but deferential. Lincoln sits humbly, head bowed. He does not react. In another scene talking with his Secretary of State Seward, he bends down on one knee to stoke the fire. Lincoln is extraordinary, but he bends a knee to be like common folk. He needs to understand what they care about and how they see things. He has lofty plans but he needs to get those plans through some rough muddy political terrain. He needs to work through other people.
Synagogue presidents need to motivate their executive committees just as Lincoln motivated his cabinet. While not everybody may love you, they have to agree to work together to get to the end goal. It takes humility to balance your advocating and your empathizing. Lincoln does both. He calls on the awesome powers of his office and he leans down to listen and to take criticism.
Jewish tradition values leaders like Moses who are humble and wear their humility on their sleeve. Lincoln knows what it is like to be poor, disregarded and disrespected. Lincoln grew up dirt poor. In David Donald’s biography called Lincoln, he shares how Abraham Lincoln’s father abused him and called him the laziest boy in the county. Lincoln was known to be prone to reading and day dreaming as a boy. Donald also discusses in detail how, how in the early period of his presidency, General McClelland would snub him at meetings and ignore his orders. He did not treat Lincoln as legitimate president.
From boyhood to adulthood, he carries the weight of many defeats on his shoulders. While he was an unlikely person to wage this epic battle for the soul of the United States, like Esther, he realized that perhaps it was his calling to be just such a pivotal person. The times required a person of great humility who also had the fierce vision to see that the value of equality was in fact proven and self evident. It was a value worth fighting for.

Friday, October 5, 2012

Leaders with Authenticity and Integrity Can Help Us Get Ready


The tradition encourages us to get ready for the road that leads to the High Holidays. During the month of Elul, the shofar is blown at daily minyan. Special prayers are introduced.  Rosh Hashanah reminds us that we are like flowers that wither while God is eternal. God is real. Our lives are small but they can be great when they are part of God’s plan. Rosh Hashanah helps us get focused so that we can bring our best efforts to the teshuvah process which peaks at Yom Kippur. Despite the helpful rituals, I am seldom ready. One of my favorite books captures the idea- “This Is Real and You Are Completely Unprepared: The Days of Awe as a Journey of Transformation” by Rabbi Alan Lew. Leaders need to get our attention- to speak to us.

 

On erev Yom Kippur our rabbi is ready. He quiets the room and then addresses the overflowing sanctuary. All eyes turn to him. He commands our attention. He makes the case for our traditions. If we will let the High Holiday liturgy work, if we will trust in the process, if we will do the work, then it will work for us. When the gates close we will feel lighter. We will be less burdened. We will move into the New Year with greater energy. This is a wonderful claim for the authentic power of Conservative Judaism and for Jewish living generally.

Conservative Judaism, however, is not easy. The service is long. There is lots of Hebrew. The observant life is challenging. It  requires integrity. Some say that fasting makes us more spiritual. Our rabbi discloses that it only makes him feel more aware of  his body. The journey of teshuvah requires us to be honest about the real obstacles we face- to speak with authenticity.

Twenty four hours later our rabbi gathers us again. We are in the last hour. He challenges us, like a fitness trainer, to work a little longer to break through our barriers. We can climb the gates- push through them or even dig under them. Our rabbi has davened with intensity throughout. Like a prize fighter, he has stamina. He inspires us all to come back in the ring- to answer the closing bell.

The journey of teshuvah requires us to be honest about the real obstacles we face- to speak with authenticity.

Even in the late hour I find my mind wandering. I am off course. I am not really ready to come out of my corner. I play an old incident over in my mind. I am still blaming the other person. I stop. I try to let it go. For a moment I am successful and I get back into the service. I may move back and forth in terms of my faith  and focus but I believe in our rabbi’s faith. I see his commitment to do the work. When he argues that we should trust in the tradition, I believe him. I have seen him at Torah study, in services and about the community. I see how he lives. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks writes that Judaism “is a series of truths that becomes true in virtue of the fact that we have lived them. In living them, we turn the ‘ought’ into the ‘is’”.  (A Letter in the Scroll p.170).The liturgy is an “ought” but the rabbi and the congregation come together to be an “is”- a lived experience.

Leaders live out their Judaism with integrity.

As we come to synagogue in Elul in the weeks leading up to the High Holidays we read the last parashot of Deuteronomy. Moshe, like our rabbi, is making the case for Judaism. It is a good way- it will lead to life well lived. The Israelite nation, however, has changed. This generation did not go through the Exodus. They did not walk through the Red Sea. They were not at Sinai.  Moses constantly implores them to be faithful because they are, in fact, not faithful.  He tries to get them ready to enter the land - because they are not ready. These people do not know who God is but at least they have seen the characteristics of someone who is God inspired. They know Moses. They can see that like a prize fighter, he has endurance.

Leaders live out their Judaism with integrity.

Moses is who he claims to be- a man who has been face to face with God and has been changed by the experience. Moses has gathered them. He has their attention. Because of his authenticity and integrity he has a chance to be heard.

Authenticity and integrity are critical qualities for leaders who are trying to get their communities prepared for the road ahead. 

Friday, September 21, 2012

Standing at the Gates of Prayer – With a Full Heart

I am standing at the gates of the High Holidays again. It’s a new year and I feel blessed to have a new High Holiday mahzor- Lev Shalem (Rabbinical  Assembly 2011).  This mahzor is fresh. As I search through it I try to bring fresh energy and intention (kavannah) to find God and serve God in this community- in this time- in my own way. “Everyone should carefully observe what way the heart pulls and choose that way with all the strength of one’s being,” writes Martin Buber (p. 130). In order to know ones heart one needs to listen.  As a Jew, I hope to  hear “ a still small voice” of divine inspiration that tugs at my heart and opens the gates of prayer.

The individual worshipper prays according to what is written in the prayer book, but at the same time a person’s thoughts and words give to each phrase a unique interpretation formed by the personal and private overtones which a singular personality lends to a fixed text. The community in which a person prays adds it own contribution. (Lev Shalem p. 141 - Adin Steinsaltz, adapted)

The prayer, the individual and the community create the potential for a synergy of the sacred. The new Lev Shalem mahzor makes a wonderful contribution to the Conservative movement as it manages the tension between past and present. It offers traditional reflections to the prayers on the right page margins. It suggests contemporary reflections on the left page margin.  The mahzor welcomes me to stand in the center where I can look back to the origins of prayers and look forward to the most pressing of contemporary concerns.

The mahzor reminds us that God is awesome and eternal and that we stand with feet of clay. While we seem small as we stand before God, we have the capacity to build something inspirational and big together - sacred community. God considers  our endeavors more favorably because of the relationship that he had with our ancestors. This is a chain of relationship  that goes from my parents to my grandparents back to the Matriarchs and Patriarchs. The Torah does not glorify these first families. We are reminded of their greatness and their flaws. They  were imperfect parents. We are imperfect parents and the children of imperfect parents. We need prayers for imperfect people.

The prayer book has a yizkor meditation for a parent that was hurtful (Lev Shalem p. 292). The mediations reads, “The parent I remember was not kind to me.” I am told its inclusion was controversial.  While my parents were loving and generous, I know people who were profoundly hurt by their parents.  I love that this prayer book speaks to people who carry such memories of pain and betrayal.  Synagogues need to be places where the most important things can be considered and even shared. The mahzor welcomes even the most broken to feel they have a place to stand with us.

We can take comfort that God made his covenant with real people like us. While the God of the HH sits in a throne chair, the God of Genesis walks beside our ancestors. He walks with people at the margin who are struggling with the messiness of life and helps them find their place within the community. I don’t want to be limited to read only the fixed text. My life is messy and many of my answers lie in the margins. This mahzor helps me feel that I have a place to stand- that there is a prayer for life with all its messiness.

Today , many talk of the demise of America, the synagogues and Conservative Judaism. Yes- there are challenges. Our ancestors often stood at the brink where the very ground was shifting under their feet. They were understandably  afraid to step forward. In every generation some agreed to stand firm and not step back. The tradition was saved. As they looked over the  ledge our ancestors  were comforted by the strong hands that were on their shoulders- a chain of tradition that winds back for centuries ( a tradition captured in this new mahzor). As they secured their footing and stiffened their resolve, a still small voice could be heard within them, “ You  were not the first to say these ancient prayers and you will  not be the last. When people come together to pray they make a house for me. I will dwell with them.”

We hope that God  will look with favor as we try to build a community of sacred relationships- a place that open the gates of prayer to the seeker and creates a place where God would be called to enter.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Blessings Without Measure


On August 31, 2012 I was deep into the month of Elul that proceeds the High Holidays. I was thinking about the year just  passed and  setting priorities for the coming year-- thinking about what matters most. My Torah study class was on Ki Tetzei and it is dense with over 50 mitzvot.  We are to thank God for giving us the mitzvot ( ahavat olam -Eternal love). In Ki Tetzei, we are blessed without measure. We are told that we are not to count all of the produce of our vineyards and fields as our possession. No -- we are to count only part as ours. A portion belongs to the poor. We are to count ourselves lucky for we are loved. We have enough. When we operate our business we are to be satisfied with a fair return – not every advantage.
You shall not have in your pouch alternative weights, larger and smaller. You must have completely honest weights and completely honest measures. (Deuteronomy 25:13-14)

The tradition argues that one of the first things we will be asked in heaven is whether we were honest in our business dealings.  We are not to cheat the system.  The special HH prayer u'ntaneh tokef  says that “as a shepherd examines his flock, making each sheep pass under the staff, so you (God) will review and number and count, judging each living being" (Mahzor Lev Shalem p.143). God will ask us what measures we used. When we come to be inscribed in the book of life we should ask, “ Did we keep two books: One for a public self and one for our secret self?”