Rabbi Harold M. Schulweis Sermons

December 12, 2007

by Harold M. Schulweis

There are mirrors and there are windows. In our tradition, you may not pray before a mirror. But the House of Prayer must have a window. 

What difference does it make? A mirror is made of glass and a window is made of glass. 

But the poet Ansky suggests "In the mirror the plain glass is covered with a little silver, and as soon as a little silver is added, you cease to see others and you see only yourself." 

There is a mirror and there are windows. And you, whom we celebrate, each of you in your coming in and your going out, have chosen not to surround yourself with a hall of mirrors. You have chosen windows through which to look out and to see the world beyond yourself. You see through the windows the destitute and the despairing; the fear of the poor and the fright of the pariah; the suppressed and the submerged. 

A mirror narrows your view, narrows your self. But a window opens you up and enlarges you. There is a world of difference between a mirror and a window. It is a life transformation from "I" and "me" and "mine" to "we" and "us" and "ours." You have chosen to live the three verbs of Jewish life for which we pray thrice daily — "To lift up the fallen, to heal the sick, to loosen the fetters of those who are bound." And through the window you have seen the journeys of our people. 

Forty years we wandered in the vastness of the desert. No land to plow, no seed to plant, no soil to water. Alone, we depended upon manna from heaven. We gathered it up and pronounced the first motzi: "Blessed art Thou, Lord our God, who brings forth bread from the heavens." Ha motzi lechem min ha shamayim. 

But we entered the promised land, and as soon as our feet felt the land, the manna stopped falling. No manna from heaven, now it was given to us all to plow, to till, to plant, to seed, to water. And now, a new benediction is born: Ha motzi lechem min ha aretz … who brings forth bread from the earth. Our earth, which we have built up from the ashes of crematoria and the smoke of chimneys curled in the air. 

The heavens are the heavens of the Lord, but the earth has he given to flesh and blood. 

You men and women of vision, you have found a place of Godliness — not in the heavens above nor in the seas beyond, but within you and between us. We thank you for the mirror of your heart and of your conscience within a confederation of conscience, a community of communities. 

We bless you as you bless us, with the blessings of sacred antiquity: God bless you with the light of reason, strengthen your heart and your soul. Renew the old and sanctify the new.

* This document, or any portion thereof, may not be reproduced without the written permission of the author.