My husband Kyle has been a cook county court house manager for many years. A few years ago Kyle was sitting in the chambers of a Latino Judge and saw a ram’s horn prominently displayed on the judge’s shelf.  Kyle commented that it was quite the Shofar.  The Judge was delighted to show off this prize, promptly took it down and began telling Kyle the unusual circumstances of how it came into his possession, yet how unfortunate it was that this particular ram’s horn was defective—it didn’t work. When Kyle looked at him incredulously, the Judge handed the horn to him and demanded that Kyle try it for himself.  Kyle did… he sounded the shofar!  “HEY! It works!” shouted the Judge! “Sure does! said Kyle” for he had sounded the Shofar for all to hear, right in the middle of the morning court call on the 30^th floor of the Daley Center.

Most of us here this morning know that the Shofar always works–we just need to know how to elicit its call.  And when we are able to sound the great ram’s horn we have to listen to its blasts so that its sounds–its call, reverberates with in us and all around us.

The purpose of the call of the Shofar is, to awaken us to our lives, to call us into becoming our best selves, to remind us to turn and return to God.  The Shofar calls us to wake up to all that is around us:  to the good, to the beautiful, to that which gives us hope. The shofar also calls us to remember our purpose in life—to mend and to fix this broken world.  If there has ever been a time to wake up, that time is now.  Wake up to the poor, to the suffering, to the trauma of so many recently effected by natural disaster—by Harvey, by Irma, and the deadly earthquakes in Mexico. Wake up to the despicable rhetoric and hate crimes that are ever increasing all around us.  The Shofar calls us to wake up to injustice. And it calls us into action.

A couple of weeks ago I was invited to speak at an interfaith peace vigil in Arlington heights. It was in response to the disgraceful events in Charlottesville, Virginia and subsequent

promotions of hateful divisiveness that have sickened our Country’s collective sensibilities. A couple dozen religious leaders of suburban congregations of all faiths joined together to bring a message of hope, peace and healing. Many faith communities have taken strong stands against this pervasive societal ugliness of increasing hate mongering and we, the Jewish People are leaders in this movement for healing and helping to end acts of hatred.

Today I join scores of my Reform rabbinic colleagues across the nation in fulfillment of our sacred obligation to speak out against hate and injustice.  We can’t stand idly by and we won’t be silent. We call out to our leadership on every level, do the same! There is no two sides to hate, love is love and hate is hate. we cannot allow hate to tear apart our country. Many of us, myself included, want and so desperately need words of comfort and inspiration on this Rosh Hashanah. Many of  us might feel quite a bit of anxiety, wanting and needing reassurance that things are going be okay. I think things will become okay, but only if we help make them so. Today my reform rabbinic colleagues and I are asking all of us to do something to end the rising acts of hate in our country.

This sermon will not be a rebuke of conservative political ideology or sentiment. Let’s be clear, there has been a virtually unanimous voice from the Conservative establishment decrying the overt or covert support of racist fringe movements and this is a sermon purposed on the necessity for us to Wake Up and Rise Up during a period in our history where white supremacists have a direct line to the Whitehouse.

And where according to the Anti Defamation League, Anti-Semitic incidents in the U.S. surged more than one-third in 2016 and have jumped 86 percent in the first quarter of 2017. And in its annual Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents, ADL reports that there has been a massive increase in the amount of harassment of American Jews, particularly since November, and a doubling in the amount of anti-Semitic bullying and vandalism at non-denominational K-12 grade schools[i]

My sermon this morning is based on a sermon written[ii] by and for the Central Conference of American Rabbis, The Reform Rabbinical union and it is the basis of sermons being delivered this year at synagogues throughout the United States. I have adapted and at times edited the CCAR sermon for us this morning.

The Talmud teaches, “If you see wrongdoing by a member of your household and you do not protest – you are held accountable.  And so it is in relation to the members of your city.  And so it is in relation to the world.” As Jews we are held accountable in ever-widening circles of responsibility to rebuke transgressors within our homes, in our community, in our world. One out-spoken medieval commentator teaches: we must voice hard truths even to those with great power, for “the whole people are punished for the sins of the king if they do not protest the king’s actions to him.”

Last week, Congress sent a resolution to the White House condemning the violence at the white nationalist rally in Virginia last month and urging President Trump to speak out against racist hate groups.  The legislation, which passed by unanimous consent in the Senate last Monday and in the House Tuesday, was to be presented yesterday to Trump for his signature in an effort by lawmakers to secure a more forceful denunciation of racist extremism from the president.

We, like the prophets before us, draw from the deepest wisdom of our tradition to deliver a stern warning against complacency and an impassioned call for action.  We call on all of us to rise up and say in thousands of ways, every day, as proud Jews and proud Americans:  “We will not tolerate the  dehumanization, degradation and stigmatization of whole categories of people in this nation. Every Jew, every woman, every Muslim, every LGBTQ, every disabled person, every black, brown, Asian, Caucasian human is beloved by God and precious in the Holy One’s sight.  We the people, all the people, are created b’tzelem elohim, in the image of the Divine.  All the people are worthy of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

The shofar calls to us this Rosh Hashanah and says! Wake UP! The shofar blasts begin with Tekiah!  a single shofar sound representing the sound of  Certainty:
As rabbis we are, from sea to shining sea, speaking to our congregations today in every accent of America with certainty to declare in unison: acts of hatred, intimidation and divisiveness… shall not be tolerated in these United States or any other place on this planet. We stand upon the shoulders of the sages, poets and rabbis in every generation who fought for freedom. We speak in memory of every Jew and in memory of all people who tragically and senselessly lost their lives at the hands of evil oppressors. We call on our political leaders; progressives and conservatives alike, to rigorously uphold the values brilliantly articulated in the founding documents of our country, the “immortal declaration” that all [people] are created equal.  We call on every elected leader to responsibly represent our country’s history and advance its noble visions of tolerance. On this first day of the New Year WE are “Proclaiming liberty throughout all the land” [Lev 25:10].

What is this country? Is it the country I know and love if discrimination and hate is welcomed and sanctioned?

             The next shofar sound is Shvarim, 3 shofar blasts representing the Sound of Brokenness: This call reminds us that there is brokenness in our world and in our hearts.
Something crumbled inside us when we watched the televised images of Charlottesville’s beautiful streets filled with hate-spewing, torch bearing marchers. This hatred is not remote from us.  It is also close to home.  Hatred is in the vandalizing of Mosques in Waukegan, Villa Park, and Peoria.  It hit even closer to home when the Chicago Loop synagogue and Anshe Emet Synagogue were vandalized with anti-Semitic symbols and messages painted on their walls.  It is close to home each time Rabbi Prass and I hear one of our Hebrew School student tell us about a swastika graffitied on their playground, on desks, and in textbooks, or anti-Semitic bullying they experienced at school.  It is brought even closer to home when each weekday morning I drop my twins off at their Day School, tell them I love them and to have a great day while an armed plain-clothed security officer holds the school doors open for them to enter.  Hatred is in our community and we see with our own eyes.

            How much more vandalism, how many clashes, how many more times will the wound of our generational trauma be opened.

We cannot accept or become accustomed to some warped version of “normal,” of racist and anti-Semitic acts or rallies popping in and out of breaking news cycles.  We should never grow numb to the brokenness that fosters ill will and the chutzpah of some to declare: You are less than us and we will not tolerate you in this land.  This story of hatred has played out for the past 2500 years of our history. It is familiar to us, it has been played out and it never ends well.

We have to allow our experience in history and our collective pain to fuel our resolve to respond – with peaceful protests, and with public calls for healing, by building alliances and by speaking in unison with other minorities and faith communities. Neither silence nor complacency nor waiting anxiously and fearfully for the next wounding event are options. Not for us.

Elie Wiesel, of blessed memory, possessed a rare understanding of unfathomable brokenness. His memorable words sound a warning to us today, he said, “We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere.” May we never be neutral, never silent in the face of threats or of discrimination toward any. As our Psalmist teaches, Let us interfere as [rofei lishvurei lev] healers of the broken [hearted], and binders of their wounds.  (Psalm 147:3)

The great Rabbi Jeochim Prinz, a close friend and mentor to Dr. King, also stood up to hate. His courageous acts teach us that it is possible to act through our fear and that silence is never the answer.  Before he landed on the shores of this great country before he marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, he stood for justice and heard the sound of the shofar calls.  For In late 1930s Berlin, when then Nazi’s intruded into his worship one Friday evening at his Berlin reform synagogue, and marched down the aisle towards him, he stood tall, and said to the bearers of hate and darkness:  Go Home.  Go Home.  and That evening they did. Standing up to hate: sometimes it works immediately, sometimes it does not, but it is always the right thing to do.

The shofar calls, Truah, 9 short blasts, representing The Sound of Urgency: The hate rhetoric and hate crimes of these last few months are a wake-up call to our Jewish community. Racism is wrong whether it is explicitly anti-Semitic or not.  The Talmud teaches that God created us all from the first Adam so that no human being could ever say, “my lineage is greater than yours.” But just in case we thought the white supremacists were after someone else, or that the Confederate flag has nothing to do with modern day Nazi sympathizers, or that we are somehow safe, despite statistics that show us otherwise, those fiery torches illuminated another truth, one we learn and forget only to learn again this day: if one minority group’s rights are threatened, we are all threatened.  As Martin Luther King Jr. taught us, “We are all tied together in a single garment of destiny,” whether we are the least powerful or the most powerful person in our world.

Where Confederate flags are waved and displayed, where there is anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant rhetoric, where there is racism of any kind, and where pro-white nationalistic sentiments are declared, Jews are not safe. These beliefs are antithetical to the tolerant society that Jews require to thrive. Jews are high on the list of despised minority groups, for our sake, for the sake of all minorities, for the sake of all people, we have to take a stand against hate.  Because we know that Never again has happened again and again.

We at Beth Am will have opportunities together this year to help each other speak up and out and to work against hate. If you want to be a part of our social justice committee that works on combating anti-Semitism please send me an email or give a call.  Please look for a FB announcement on the Beth Am members FaceBook page for our next social justice meeting and action items.

Lastly, the Shofar sounds the great Tekiah Gedolah, a lengthy single sound representing The Endless Pursuit of Justice:

Tzedek tzedek tirdof the Torah admonishes: “Justice, justice you shall pursue, so that you may live and inherit the land which I, God, give to you.” Our sacred text reminds us that for a community truly to inherit its place in the world, thoughtful leaders at every level must be dedicated to equality and to unity. Every community relies on passionate and engaged citizens; it relies on you to be insistent advocates for tolerance and enduring kindness between the diverse peoples of our nation. To pursue justice is to create a society that protects and enlivens every citizen. May we be relentless, tireless builders of that society in our city and in our country, in this New Year.

May we be blessed with strength and courage in the New Year to do the next right thing when we hear hate mongers.  May this Day of Shofar Sounding inspire us to hear the call to right the wrongs and help heal our world.

Ken Yihu Ratzon.  May this be true.

[i] https://www.adl.org/news/press-releases/us-anti-semitic-incidents-spike-86-percent-so-far-in-2017

[ii] THE CCAR SERMON IN ENTIRITY: The Talmud teaches, “If you see wrongdoing by a member of your household and you do not protest – you are held accountable. And so it is in relation to the members of your city. And so it is in relation to the world.” As Jews we are held accountable in ever-widening circles of responsibility to rebuke transgressors within our homes, in our country, in our world. One chutzpadik medieval commentator teaches we must voice hard truths even to those with great power, for “the whole people are punished for the sins of the king if they do not protest the king’s actions to him.”

Today I speak words of protest, joining hundreds of my Reform rabbinic colleagues across the nation in fulfillment of our sacred obligation. We will not be silent. We will, without hesitation, decry the moral abdication of the President who fuels hatred and division in our beloved country. This is not a political statement. We, like the prophets before us, draw from the deepest wisdom of our tradition to deliver a stern warning against complacency and an impassioned call for action. We call on you to rise up and say in thousands of ways, every day, as proud Jews and proud Americans: “You cannot dehumanize, degrade and stigmatize whole categories of people in this nation. Every Jew, every Muslim, every gay, transgender, disabled, black, brown, white, woman, man and child is beloved of God and precious in the Holy One’s sight. We the people, all the people, are created b’tzelem elohim, in the image of the Divine. All the people are worthy of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

Rosh Hashanah is Yom Teruah, the Day of sounding the Shofar, whose piercing tones sound an alarm, express our fears and especially in these times compel us to respond with a resounding call for justice.

The shofar blasts: Tekiah [single shofar blast] The Sound of Certainty:
As rabbis we are, from sea to shining sea, speaking to our congregations in every accent of America to declare in unison: acts of hatred, intimidation and divisiveness will not be tolerated in these United States. We stand upon the shoulders of the sages, poets and rabbis in every generation who fought for freedom. We speak in memory of every Jew and in memory of all people who tragically and senselessly lost their lives at the hands of evil oppressors. We call on our political leaders; progressives and conservatives alike, to rigorously uphold the values brilliantly articulated in the founding documents of our country, the “immortal declaration” that all [men] people are created equal. We call on every elected leader to responsibly represent our country’s history and advance its noble visions of tolerance. On this first day of the New Year WE are “Proclaiming liberty throughout all the land” [Lev 25:10].

The shofar blasts: Shvarim [3 shofar blasts] The Sound of Brokenness:
Something crumbled inside us when we watched the televised images of Charlottesville’s beautiful streets filled with hate-spewing marchers. The wound reopened when [localize/personalize here] EX a few miles from our homes protestors from the right and left clashed violently in [Berkeley] OR a few miles from here in Boston the glass wall of a holocaust memorial was shattered OR a local mosque was attacked only a few miles from where we pray today. How much more vandalism, how many clashes, which other cities? We must not accept or become inured to some warped version of “normal,” of racist and anti-Semitic acts or rallies popping in and out of breaking news cycles. Let us never grow numb to the brokenness, but let
our pain fuel our vows to respond – with peaceful protests, and with public calls for healing, by building alliances and by speaking in unison with other minorities and faith communities. Neither silence nor complacency nor waiting anxiously and fearfully for the next wounding event are options. Not for us. Elie Wiesel, of blessed memory, possessed a rare understanding of unfathomable brokenness. His memorable words sound a warning to us today, “We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere.” May we never be neutral, never silent in the face of threats or of discrimination toward any. Let us interfere as [rofei lishvurei lev] healers of the broken[hearted], and [u’mchabaysh l’atzvotahm], binders of their wounds.
Psalm 147:3 ׃ הָ֭רֹפֵא לִשְׁב֣וּרֵי לֵ֑ב וּ֝מְחַבֵּ֗שׁ לְעַצְּבֹותָֽם
The shofar blasts: Truah [9 short blasts] The Sound of Urgency:
The events of these simmering weeks are a wake-up call to our Jewish community. Racism is wrong whether it seeps into explicit anti-Semitism or not. The Talmud teaches that God created us all from the first Adam so that no human being could ever say, “my lineage is greater than yours.” But just in case we thought the white supremacists were after someone else, or that the Confederate flag has nothing to do with modern day Nazi sympathizers, or that we were somehow safe in the fact that most – but certainly not all – Jews in America are white, those fiery torches illuminated another truth, one we learn and forget only to learn again this day: if one minority group’s rights are threatened, we are all threatened. As Martin Luther King taught us, “We are all tied together in a single garment of destiny,” whether we are the least powerful or the most powerful person in our world.

The Shofar blasts: Tekiah Gdolah [lengthy single blast] The Endless Pursuit of Justice:
Tzedek tzedek tirdof the Torah admonishes: “Justice, justice you shall pursue, so that you may live and inherit the land which I, God, give to you.” Our sacred text reminds us that for a community truly to inherit its place in the world, thoughtful leaders at every level must be dedicated to equality and to unity. Every community relies on passionate and engaged citizens; it relies on you to be insistent advocates for tolerance and enduring kindness between the diverse peoples of our nation. To pursue justice is to create a society that protects and enlivens every citizen. Let us be relentless, tireless builders of that society in our city and in our country — in this New Year.