Rabbi's Blog

Frequently, people ask me about how I come up with my ideas for my sermons. Now, if I was an ultra-Orthodox rabbi, the answer would be quite simple. I would look to the classic Jewish sources: the Torah, the Talmud and other rabbinic texts written thousands of years ago. But as a Reform Rabbi, things are a little different. I not only can choose from the wisdom of our Jewish tradition, but I can also choose from the wisdom of great modern thinkers. Now as a Reform Rabbi who is also a parent, I also have the great source material of my children’s lives. In particular, I’m speaking specifically about the wonderful source material known as superhero movies. As many of you know, a new version of Spiderman came out this past year and my kids were pretty excited to see it. Because of that excitement, I thought it would be a good idea to brush up on my Spiderman knowledge by checking out the previous iterations of Spiderman movies. This eventually led to the original Spiderman movie starring Toby McGuire.

For me, the best part of this movie is the backstory. For those that didn’t know, Spiderman is a teenager who is bitten by a superbug which then transforms him into the superhero that we know. He is raised by his aunt and uncle, who guide him through his moral decisions. The movie crescendos at a moment when Spiderman begins to sense the transformation of his powers and their meaning for his life. He is hesitant and unsure of himself. He doesn’t know if he can truly be a superhero. He also is afraid of what it will mean for himself and his family. Then, in a private moment between Spiderman and his uncle, the patriarch offers these immortal words, “With great power comes great responsibility.”

So of course, I had to research whether this important statement was truly from the comic book or was this plagiarized from an earlier author. And while similar statements have been made throughout history, most sources attribute the popularity of the message to the creators of Spiderman, Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. And oh how powerful those words are for us on this Kol Nidrei.

With great power comes great responsibility. This past year, these words rang true with such resonance as I watched a theater production of a show entitled “Children of Eden.” For those unfamiliar with the show, it portrays the relationship between all of the characters in the book of Genesis and God. The main message of the show is laid out for us in the opening story about Adam and Eve. In this portrayal of the well-known story, the argument between Eve and the snake is diminished. And there is even less of an argument between the main couple and God. Most of the dialogue is between Adam and Eve. On one side, Adam is trying to convince his wife not to eat from the fruit because that is what is expected. Adam is a rule follower. Adam’s main argument is that God has told us not to eat the apple and that is what we should do. There is no choice. Eve, on the other hand, strongly believes in eating the apple because it is through eating the apple we not only gain knowledge but we gain the ability to choose what is right and what is wrong. She tells Adam and the audience that God would not have placed the apple there unless underneath it all God wanted us to have choices.

With great power comes great responsibility. What is the power that we have as human beings? God has given us the gift of choice. God has given us the ability to choose right from wrong. God has given us the sacred and blessed power to choose. We do not travel on our journeys blindly following the person that is in front of us to determine what is good and what is bad. Rather, each of us has the power to choose right actions or wrong actions. God does not move my hand nor does God change my mind. On the contrary, God has given me an intellect to use to make decisions and conduct acts of lovingkindness.

And is this not what our Torah portion teaches us on Yom Kippur? We read every Yom Kippur, “I’ve set before you this day goodness and blessing as well as evil and curse. I place before you all that is good and all that is bad.” And then God goes on to say, “Please, choose goodness! Please, choose life!” God has handed us a gift. God has given us a special superpower. This power is not great physical strength nor is it amazing agility. The power that humanity has is the power to choose.

And yet, all of you sitting here this day, within this sacred Reform congregation, are given an extra dose of superpower. Yes, God has given you these choices. But as Reform Jews, you correctly do not call me up to dictate to you what is a holy act, what is a righteous act, what is a Jewish act. You might ask me my opinion, but you do not expect me to dictate to you and remove your choice. No, that responsibility is yours. You have the opportunity and the gift to choose what is right and what is wrong. In the ultra-Orthodox community, they might turn to their rabbis to ask them how to act and how to behave. They ask their rabbis why they are ill or why certain tragedies have taken place. And they take their rabbis words as coming from God. As Reform Jews, you’re given a great amount of power. You can choose your Jewish identity. You can choose how much goodness you bring into this world. You can choose how much blessing exists. But with great power comes great responsibility.

Yom Kippur gives us an opportunity to slow down and ask ourselves, “Have we been responsible with this power? Have we used the gift that God has given us the right way?” All we have to do is look around and see the little things, such as how people behave in restaurants or driving through town. We can go to Panera and see the level of disrespect for others. We can turn on Facebook and read the level of discourse and vitriol so easily spewed. On some level, it would be easier if we didn’t have all of these choices. On some level it would be simpler if someone just reacted for us, so then we could blame them for getting us in trouble or making the wrong choice. But we have the gift. We have the power. Therefore, it is important for us to ask ourselves during this time of year, “Have we used this gift of choice well? Have we used this power in a responsible way?”

The great medieval Jewish scholar Maimonides teaches us that we should see ourselves as being completely in balance, teetering between great blessing as well as complete destruction. He further goes on to say, “If we perform one sin, we tip the balance and that of the entire world to the side of guilt, bringing destruction upon ourselves. On the other hand, if we perform one mitzvah [one good deed], we tip the balance and that of the entire world to the side of merit and bring blessing and salvation to ourselves and others.” So what we learn from this is that with our one choice of kindness or selfishness, we will also tip the scales for the world.

With great power comes great responsibility. If we look at our next choice as the one that not only determines whether we are good people but it will determine whether the world is a good place, perhaps, we might choose more wisely. When we hear that a friend is sick and in need, it will be our actions of support that will not only help our friend, it will bring goodness to the world. When we need to leave work a little early in order to be present for our family, it is that little act of lovingkindness that will not only bring blessing to our lives, but according to Maimonides, it will bring blessing to the world. When we see that there is a Jewish holiday or a yahrzeit that is coming up, your choice to come to the Temple will not only fill your Jewish souls but it will also bring life and blessing to the world.

Of course, a natural response to this great responsibility of not only healing ourselves but also healing the world, is to feel a sense of fear or inadequacy. What if I mess up? What if I make a mistake? Maybe somebody else should make the decision for me? Rabbi Larry Kushner writes that our stumbling, our failures, and our fear that we are inadequate or unworthy of the holy task are nothing more than God’s loving hands being just one more step beyond our reach. Rabbi Kushner teaches us that making the right choices is not always easy and it definitely is not always popular. Because of that, we might even feel alone. It might seem like God is not there. Rabbi Kushner is trying to teach each of us that though the choice of the righteous path is hard, though the choice of blessing and life can be challenging and difficult, God is right there, just one step away.

With great power comes great responsibility. God gave us this great power of choice. God gave us the ability to choose what is right and what is wrong. God gave us the choice to bring blessing and joy to our lives and our family's lives. But God equally gave us the choice to bring evil and hardship into our lives and others’ lives. Our Torah portion on Yom Kippur encourages us to make the right choices. At the heart of this is that we have the ability to choose. Choosing the right path might seem difficult and it might even feel like you are alone.

So before you travel on your journeys, hopefully choosing kind actions for yourselves and therefore the world, I wish to leave you with this final image. A great Jewish mystic once wrote that our relationship to God is like a parent that wants to teach his child how to walk. No sooner does the little one take a few steps toward his parent than the parent intuitively steps back, thereby urging the child to take another step. God wants us to take our own steps. God is not going to move our feet for us. God is not going to take the steps for us. We have to do it all on our own, and as we take the steps toward kindness, compassion and understanding, our reward will be the embrace of God.

May it be God’s will. Amein.