Monday, February 8, 2010

My Haftorah Speech to Reno congregation

A Jewish family had twin boys whose only resemblance to one another was their looks.
If one felt it was too hot, the other thought it was too cold. If one said the radio was too loud, the other claimed the volume needed to be turned up.
Opposite in every way, one was an eternal optimist, the other a doom & gloom pessimist.
Just to see what would happen, on the twins' birthday their father Chaim loaded the pessimist's room with every imaginable toy and game. The optimist's room he loaded with horse manure.
That night the father passed by the pessimist room and found him sitting amid his new gifts crying bitterly.
"Why are you crying George" the father asked.
"Because my friends will be jealous, I'll constantly need batteries, and my toys will eventually get broken."
Passing the optimist twin's room, the father found him dancing with joy in the pile of manure. "What are you so happy about Shlomi?" he asked.
To which his optimist twin replied, "There's got to be a pony in here somewhere!"
True it is an old joke but it really exemplifies part of this week’s parsha.
Here were the Jewish people, who only days before had witnessed the greatest miracles in the history of mankind and they were whining and complaining in the desert. They had seen the 10 plagues destroy the will of their oppressors in Mitzriem; they had seen a glorious cloud-like column protect their rear guard from the Pharaoh’s soldiers during the day and a miraculous column of fire by night. They’d seen the sea literally open up in front of them, they’d walked across the dry ocean floor and then they saw the waters thunder down upon their adversaries, drowning all but Pharoh. They’d stood before Sinai and heard the awe-inspiring voice of G-d himself. They’d seen Moses descend from the mountain with the 10 Commandments, not once but twice. They witnessed food literally raining down from heaven to sustain them and help them thrive during their journey.
And yet despite all of these miraculous events, there still were a handful of naysayers who complained that they were better off under their brutal task masters in Mitzrayim where they were beaten, violated and killed, all because at least as slaves they had fresh meat and fish to eat.
At one point in the Torah G-d says to Moshe Rabbeinu that we are “a stiff necked people.” Over and over again throughout the Torah we see evidence of this disappointing character flaw. Yet despite this flaw, we as a people, one of the smallest groups in history, have had a wondrous impact on mankind. Despite our small numbers, our people have been awarded over 80 percent of all the Noble prizes for science ever presented, we’ve found the cure for countless numbers of deadly diseases and we’ve given the world a set of laws that the most powerful nations on earth have used as the basis for their own secular legal systems.
Like our ancestors who stood in the desert so many thousands of years ago, we too are at a crossroad here in Reno. We are about to embark on the next phase of our incredible journey when we move to the new Shul two blocks from here. But like the Hebrews in the Torah who stood in the desert and complained about the lack of meat while miracles abounded around them, we too as a congregation sometimes sit around, focusing on trivial issues while surrounded by our own miraculous events.
Please allow me to share what I believe are the 10 miracles or Chabad of Northern Nevada. One for each year the Cunins have been here in Reno.
1. After spending 20 years learning from, and being inspired by, the Rebbe in Crown Heights, a fuzzy faced young Rabbi named Mendel Cunin was asked by his uncle in Los Angeles to create a Chabad House right here in Reno. A place where generations of rabbinical students had spent their summer vacations looking for elusive Jews in this western frontier town. Chazzan Paul Katz and I met many of these now esteemed Rabbis at the Chabad World Convention last year in New Jersey. And each of them marveled that such a thing could be accomplished here in Reno where during their numerous past visits they saw more cows than Jews.
2. A few years latter a young Sarah Lender accepted Rabbi Cunin’s invitation to become his wife and Rebbetzin of Reno and their lives as a spiritual leadership team began.
3. Without a penny in the bank the Cunins orchestrated the building of one of the most beautiful Mikvahs in the world. A building that is in constant use by locals and visitors alike.
4. The first few members of the original congregation grew tired of davening in the Cunin living room and decided to take an open air carport and build a small but spiritually charged sanctuary for the four or five men who showed up regularly to daven on Shabbos. I ask you to look around and marvel at what a few committed souls accomplished many years ago.
5. Several years later we witnessed the arrival of the triplets followed by their sisters and brother and their mere presence energized and captivated the attention of our entire community.
6. Next, a young or maybe not so young doctor showed up and became the Chazzan of Chabad of Northern Nevada; carrying on a legacy that he earned at the feet of Chazzan Boris Fisch, may he rest in peace.
7. Forming a spiritual partnership with the Rabbi and Rebbetzin, Doctor Paul Katz started the first frume preschool in the history of Northern Nevada. A school that today continues to grow and flourish and serve as a beacon of learning for our entire community.
8. Several years later the Rabbi inspired the community to come together to commission the creation of a brand new Torah for the Chabad House, a feat that usually takes new congregations decades to accomplish.
9. And just months ago the Farahi family miraculously and generously made their corporate headquarters on Moana and Clover available, exclusively to Chabad for their new Northern Nevada headquarters.
10. And now just one decade after the Cunins first arrived in Reno, the wonderful people in this room are leading the campaign to accomplish what some folks could only dream about a decade ago and complete what we fondly call
“The Biggest Little Shul in the World!”
These ten miracles of faith have enabled us to be here today, flourishing as a congregation and a community. Yet despite all of these miraculous events we still occasionally find ourselves grousing and complaining about little things. Little things my friends that in the long run just don’t matter. At times we behave just like our ancestors who were surrounded by the greatest miracles in the history of mankind, and either failed to see them or took them for granted.
But just like our ancestors who persevered and overcame their own flaws to set an example of faith and virtue for the rest of the world, we as a congregation are at a crossroads in our own spiritual journey.
Right down the street is a building which one day soon will serve as both a Shul and a school, focused on training the next generation about the history and joys of Judaism.
But it also serves as a much larger metaphor for our entire community. For it is also a spiritual bus station, a station that will one day see a divine bus powered by Mashiac make a brief stop in Reno to pick us up and take us all to our promised destination in Eretz Yisroel.
So the question each of us has to ask ourselves is simple. Are we going to ride that spiritual pony at a full gallop to the bus or our we going to continue to focus on the non important aspects of life that pile up on us like so much manure, paralyzing us spiritually so it is more challenging to make our way to the bus.
I say we take a moment to appreciate the joyous miracles surrounding us, our beautiful, growing congregation, and the entire Cunin family as we prepare our spiritual bus station, filling it with Torah mitzvahs, educating our children and inspiring our fellow Jews so Mashiac will arrive here soon and take us all to a world of perpetual Shabbos in the land of our ancestors.
Thank you and Good Shabbos!