I
look at Tapestry #7 more than any other from my seat on the bimah. I
know it so well that I did not even have a picture of the tapestry when
I wrote the sermon while sitting on an airplane. This spectacular work
of art is the backdrop for our B’nai Mitzvah children from my vantage
point each Shabbat; and what a fitting backdrop it is! For circling the
top of their heads for me each Saturday morning are the words – L’dor
vador--“From generation to generation.” This is the core value we gave
to our artists. For what are we as a congregation and as a Jewish
people, if not the progenitors of our faith and tradition for future
generations?
There may be more of our Jewish story
packed into this tapestry than any other on our walls. It summarizes
the entire book of Exodus (which we concluded last Shabbat); it pays
tribute to the festival of Pesach (Passover); and it incorporates the
only Torah and representation of God in the twelve hangings on our
sanctuary’s walls.
As we look at this magnificent
array of symbols we welcome the month of Nisan to our temple in rich
blues and bright colors. We welcome and bless the month of Nisan
tonight, whose name is inscribed on the bottom right, as each of our
tapestries represents a month of our Jewish lunar year and the
festivals and celebrations that correspond with it, in addition to the
values that are the organizing principles of our designs.
We
bring music into many of the tapestries, as we put notes on the
Thanksgiving one to remind us of singing with Abiding Presence each
Thanksgiving, and as we made sure that V’shamru is written on the
Shabbat Tapestry. Let us begin with the music we hear. How can a
tapestry play music? Listen… this one does.
As we get
caught up in the blue waters, we hear our congregation’s favorite Mi
Chamocha by Debbie Friedman. The music that unites us in prayer comes
alive in our feet. We find ourselves between the two walls of water as
the Red Sea parts for each one of us.
How amazing
to be in the throng of our people, our fellow Israelites, as the rich
blue walls of water rise beside us. What a coincidence that the swirls
are reminiscent of our stained glass windows and the other redemptive
waters of our lives, the waters of creation. I feel the mist of the
miracle on my face, like Niagra’s spray… do you?
But,
just as we imagine crossing the sea, Jerusalem, the city of hills
rising up from the desert appears in the distance, and we appreciate
the dual metaphor of the path. For there are three pilgrimage festivals
in the Torah recalling our people’s sacred journeys to Jerusalem at
Sukkot, Pesach, and Shavuot. Each festival has its own path to
Jerusalem on our tapestries reminiscent of the times and seasons of
Jewish life in days gone by when our people traveled on foot to the
Temple in Jerusalem.
The mist of the water
disappears in the dry air as we ascend the hills of Jerusalem. The
scent of salty air gives way to the smell of lambs ready for the
Paschal sacrifice. Smell the sweat of the pilgrims en route to the Holy
City, Jerusalem of Gold. The Jewish family reunion of old foreshadows
the family reunions and tables set to tell the story of Passover just
twelve nights from tonight.
The command from Exodus
13:8, “And you shall tell your child (son)… looms large on our sacred
Torah scroll. Originally the phrase which births the Haggadah (Haggadah
coming from the command v’higadita), was on a big book/Haggadah. But,
being a Torah-centric congregation we asked for a Torah instead of the
book. And I asked for four Torah pointers – representing each child,
each question, each cup – and the host of personal pointers in our
congregation, reminding future generations how many personal pointers
and capable readers of Torah we have among us.
The
Torah is so important to us! Each of our Torahs was lovingly brought to
TBS, carefully restored by our scribe, and is skillfully read almost
every day of the week, each one adorned in handmade covers lovingly
quilted by our members Joanne Fiorino and Lesly-Claire Greenberg.
The
symbols of Passover, the matzah and the wine to the left of the Torah,
sit on the white tablecloth waiting for the wine to spill, because
spilled wine is always MAZELDIK..it brings good luck and health. To the
right of the Torah is the barley to be counted during the omer from the
2nd day of Pesach to Shavuot.
And then there is God.
Rabbi Nyer will tell you that when David Kleinman, Lynne Sprung, and I
went to Cincinnati in search of an assistant rabbi, we were up front
about the fact that we are a ‘God congregation.’ We talk about God, we
explore our relationship with God on Shabbat and holidays, in adult ed
and through our Board’s constant commitment to God’s sacred values. We
thank God for blessings and seek God for courage, strength, and
healing. How could we put all of our values on our walls without some
representation of God?
It was so easy for Bracha
and Menachem Lavee, our artists, as Bracha has a trademark image for
God in her artwork. In the Torah, God comes as a cloud by day and a
fire by night so that our ancestors are never afraid or alone. The
slave generation had so many fears, so the cloud shaded them from the
fierce sun that burned their skin, and the fire appeared for them in
the night calming their fears of darkness.
For us,
the fire in the upper left, and the cloud in the upper right, make a
statement that God dwells in this house with us, caring for us and
watching over us, shading us from the harsh realities of our world and
reminding us to be a light to the nations in the face of darkness and
evil. Even if we have many who do not embrace the Torah’s view of God,
or the truth of the crossing of the sea, as Reform Jews we know that
the sacred stories and celebrations define and unite us.
We
are nothing without God, Torah, and the people of Israel. We are
obligated and enriched by passing on our Judaism from generation to
generation, l’dor vador, just as we are enriched each year as we relive
the passing over with loved ones, friends, and guests. It is in the
passing on and the passing over that we find our purpose and our
promise.
L’dor vador, from generation to
generation, may we embody the values, teachings, symbols, and stories
of this tapestry. If we fulfill just this one, we will have fulfilled
them all. Shabbat Shalom.
Tapestry #7: Nisan- "Passing On and Passing Over"