Temple Israel – To Education, To Loving Relationships,and To Good Deeds

“Liminal Moments” – was a phrase I had not heard before entering rabbinical school.  It’s an anthropology term that gets borrowed into social work and related fields; from the Latin limen, which means ‘threshold’ to speak about a moment of transition.  Anna Scheyett wrote, “Liminal moments are times of transition, specifically the time when it is realized that the way things were are over, but the way things will be are not yet clear.”  I recall discussing these as moments that Judaism loves, the in between moments of ambiguity, uncertainty, of change.  We mark these twilight moments, sometimes during literal twilight as we usher in Shabbat and holidays at nightfall.  We say blessings over travel, before doing new things for the first time, and to a large extent, liminal moments define all of our life-cycle events.  From birth through death, we mark moments of transition as we stand between different stages of life.

Birth brings us covenantal ceremonies to welcome a newborn into our family of Jews and our special relationship with God.  Consecration marks formal entry into Jewish learning.  B’nei Mitzvah a special moment of maturity and taking ownership of one’s Jewish life.  Confirmation a more modern acceptance of one’s Jewish maturity.  Perhaps marriage to mark a sacred partnership with another person.  These moments all mark the beginning of a new chapter that is yet to unfold.  And these moments are ones that we, as Jews, like to mark with ritual, with community, and with joy.  But why?

Rela Geffen, in this article, building on the words of sociologist Emile Durkheim writes: “Look around at a wedding ceremony and you will see couples reliving their own special moments… It is the ritual familiarity of the ceremony that enhances its power.  The very routineness of the passage infuses it with communal and historical meaning for the celebrants, while at the same time reinforcing memories of similar moments in the lives of the congregation.  Understanding this aspect of human nature – the need to affirm family continuity within a public context – the rabbis ordained that life’s passages be marked in the presence of a quorum, the minimum definition of community.”

We celebrate these moments to mark transition and wish hope for the future on one another, and to remind ourselves, I believe, that we share in the responsibility to be each other’s guides and cheerleaders on our journeys through life.

The blessing we wish a baby upon entering the covenant is that just as their parents have brought them into the covenant, so too, we hope and pray, they will raise the child to enter into Torah, to the Chuppah, and to Ma’asim Tovim.  Torah as a symbol of lifelong Jewish learning.  The Chuppah (wedding canopy) as a symbol of loving relationship.  And Ma’asim Tovim – good deeds as the actions that one does in the world.  One might also see these three wishes as being blessings for how we encounter God through Torah and tradition, each other through our relationships, and the world through our actions.  Each life cycle event we mark celebrates a step on one’s journey in these elements as an individual among their family as much as among our congregational family.

This week in particular there is more to celebrate than usual – and so, whether you are celebrating yourselves, with some of our members, or perhaps reminiscing your own celebrations, may you too continue to grow in learning, in your relationships, and in good deeds

L’chayim!  To Life!