Rabbi Moskowitz's Message

A House of Prayer For All Peoples

Angry voices of prejudice and hatred can, with their erupting aberration, startle and stun people of good will. We directly encounter their virulence so infrequently that we had laid them to rest in the quarter of our lives we call “exceptions.” Yet, equally extraordinary can be the eloquently harmonious singing of choirs of diversity. Those voices have the power to stun us for the very opposite reason: We have come to take them so much for granted that when we are treated to a concert of such voices, we are awakened to their presence and think “how beautiful!”

Last month, Temple Israel was the site for both voices. On February 20 a small but vocal anti-gay and anti-Semitic group called the Westboro Baptist Church from Topeka, Kansas, came to Long Beach to demonstrate their hatred at a number of sites including the Alpert Jewish Community Center, Temple Beth Shalom, Wilson High School, and Temple Israel.

In response to their anticipated presence outside our synagogue on Shabbat morning, we took a number of steps to magnify a different voice: that of the sacred power of unity and love. In conjunction with the South Coast Interfaith Council, we shaped our Shabbat morning to include voices from a variety of faith traditions, all expressing the view that there are many paths to God, except the path of hate. Joining me in conducting the service that morning were: Rev. Sheena Trotter-Dennis (Belmont Heights United Methodist Church); Rev. Dr. Jane Galloway (Immanuel/H’art Works); Rev. Jerry Stinson (First Congregational Church of Long Beach); Judy Gillilan (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints); Omah Athia Carrim (International Institute of Tolerance); and Milia Islam-Majeed (Executive Director, South Coast Interfaith Council). We were also treated to the stirring voices of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Long Beach choir, under the direction of Jim Ruggirello.

The response to our invitation to join in a celebration of our diversity in sacred service was astounding. We set up audio-video feeds in both Feuer Auditorium and Alban Hall in order to accommodate the nearly 500 people who attended. During refreshments afterwards, people universally described the service as one of the most beautiful and moving they had ever experienced.

Occurring outside the walls of our synagogue that morning was another stunning response of support for the values of pluralism and tolerance. Over 100 of our neighbors surrounded the 10 demonstrators to block the visibility of their signs of hatred with ones proclaiming messages of love and the celebration of diversity. We are very grateful to be members of such a community and will let our neighbors personally know how much we appreciate their support.

Motivating Judaism has always been the dual embrace of pluralism of thought and unity in action. We recognize that as human beings we are inspired by a bountiful profusion of sacred poetic images, all propelling us to an experience of divine unity. It is that march, carried forward in song, that the Jewish-American writer Hugh Nissenson captures in his poem:

Our hearts beat with certainty
that there is a day and an hour,
and a mountain called Zion,
and that all those who wander
will gather there and become song,
ringing out into every corner of the earth,
from end to end,
and the nations will hear it,
and the caravans in the desert
will all to that morning throng.

The Torah is a story about hearing God’s call and choosing to embrace a sacred destiny. It is a story about journeys into a life of holiness. Every year, Temple Israel conducts an Introduction to Judaism class, which offers those not born into Judaism a portal into a life of spiritual and ethical meaning framed by the wisdom of Jewish tradition. It is a profoundly transforming experience not only for those who take the class, but also for all of us as we are inspired by their sense of spiritual renewal through Judaism. One young woman who took the class said: "I was a seed. With Judaism I’ve become a rose." Through this regular column, Journeys to Judaism, come to know the rich and vibrant garden that is blossoming here at Temple Israel through our Introduction to Judaism program. --- Rabbi Steven Moskowitz