Congratulations to Rabbi Schonbrun on his recent installation to Congregation Torat El!!
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For those of you who were unable to attend on Dec 19th, click here for introductory remarks from Rabbi Pressman. The following are remarks from Rabbi Schonbrun:
Installation: Congregation Torat El, December 19, 2010
Looking Towards Our Future
Friends, family, colleagues, and community members, I want to thank you all so much for celebrating this wonderful and deeply holy moment with me. It is hard to believe that nearly five months ago my family and I began to build our new home on the Jersey Shore by becoming a part of the Torat El family. I want to thank all of you, so much, for your kindness and generous offers of help and support during this time of transition. In particular, I want to thank all of the office staff, (Vickie, Joanne, Pam, Jacob, Chris, Glenn) as well as Ben Laskowitz, Cantor Siegel, the executive board, the general board, the transition committee, and the many lay leaders who have been so helpful to me over these past few months. Alan, I thank you for your remarks this afternoon, and I too feel privileged to be working so closely with you and thank you for all that you have done, and continue to do for our congregation. We are very blessed to have you as our President. I also want to take a moment to thank Pam Cardullo, and Harvey and Jay-Ann Shooman for putting together such a meaningful installation ceremony as well as Rabbi Friedman for his opening remarks. And of course, I would not be the rabbi that I am, were it not for Rabbi Pressman, who flew all the way across the country to be here with me today. Danny, I am deeply honored and humbled by your presence and I am so grateful to you for being such a wonderful teacher, colleague, and friend. Lastly, I need to thank the most important person in my life- my teacher, my best friend, and the love of my life, Jane-Rachel, who, along with our children, have been amazing throughout this transition and without whom I simply could not be the rabbi or human being that I am.
By now it should come to no surprise to any of you that I would like to begin by sharing a story with you.
A story is told that all over the Jewish world, the Jewish people suffered the agony of exile. Life was terribly hard, and God’s Messiah seemed far away. But not in Lublin. Not in the home of the great Hassidic master Rabbi Yitzhak Ya’akov, the Seer of Lublin.
Once a visitor asked one of the disciples of the Seer, “If your master is so powerful and so wise, why doesn’t he bring the messiah and put an end to all our suffering?”
“A good question,” replied the Hasid. “But you see in Lublin, in the court of the Seer, we have so much ecstasy, so much joy, for us it is as if the Messiah has already arrived!”
In truth, the Hassid new that the Messiah had not yet arrived. But he believed the arrival would come any day. All that was needed was the right depth of concentration in prayer, the right mastery of the holy books, and the Messiah would appear and redeem the world. Every Saturday evening, the disciples of the Seer would extend their Sabbath, often late into the night. A tradition taught that the Messiah would come as the Sabbath was ending, so as to extend the Sabbath rest and joy into eternity. So, the disciples of the Seer sat for hours on Saturday night, singing and praying, refusing to accept the inevitable end of the Sabbath and the arrival of another mundane workweek.
When the Seer of Lublin died, his disciples gathered to divide his worldly goods. One Hasid got his books. One received his Kiddush cup. Another was given his tallis. There remained one humble Hasid. He was given his master’s clock.
That last Hasid had before him a long journey home, for like many of the Seer’s disciples, he had come from far away to learn the holy secrets of the Seer. On his way home this Hasid stopped at an inn to rest for the night. When he realized that he had no money with him with which to pay the innkeeper, he had no choice but to offer the rebbe’s clock as payment. The innkeeper accepted the clock and installed it in one of the rooms of the inn.
Years later another of the Seer’s Hasidim passed by and stayed at the same inn (in the very same room). All night long he could not sleep. All night the innkeeper heard the restless footsteps of the Hasid pacing the floor-back and forth, back and forth.
In the morning the innkeeper approached the weary Hasid, “You didn’t sleep at all last night! I heard you pacing all night long. Was there something wrong with the room? Was the bed too hard or the pillow too soft?”
The Hasid was agitated. His face betrayed his fear. He grabbed the innkeeper by his lapels: “it was the clock. The clock in the room kept me up all night. That is no ordinary clock. Where did you find it? How did you come by it?”
The innkeeper related the story of his visitor years before.
“I knew it!” responded the Hasid. “This clock belonged to the Holy Seer of Lublin. It is a holy clock. You see, all the clocks in the world mark time from the past. All clocks measure where we’ve come, how far we have journeyed from our beginnings. This clock is unique. This clock ticks from the future. It tells us how much more there is to do before Redemption can be realized. Every time I lay down to rest, the clock said, ‘Get up. How can you rest? Get to work now! The Messiah is so near! Redemption is waiting for you. It’s waiting for you to bring it!”
In commenting on this story in his book Capturing the Moon, Rabbi Ed Feinstein writes:
Some people measure themselves by looking at the past. They see that the times behind them were better and lament how far they are from the good old days. For others, the clock is a reminder of what’s ahead and what they have to do to get there. The future beckons and invites their energy. There are cultures that imagine the Golden Age only in the past. They long for a return. They view the future with skepticism. Others imagine the best days ahead. It’s all a matter of how you read the clock. (Capturing the Moon, 69-71)
My friends, by now it is very clear to me, as I think it is becoming to many of us, that Congregation Torat El is ticking towards the future. As I have said before, we have much to honor and celebrate in our past, but today, this installation, this moment in time is really not about me. It is about us- and the future that we are beginning to envision together. Are we bringing about the Messiah? Not exactly. And there is no one person who can build our congregation for us. Remember how our story ended: Redemption is waiting for you. It is waiting for you to bring it.” Our redemption is waiting for us. We are the ones who will make this happen. We are the ones who will create the incredible, holy and vibrant Kehillah Kedosha that is Congregation Torat El.
Now redemption is certainly a lofty goal- but at its core, redemption is all about creating a more perfect and complete universe. Redemption is about creating a world, and a community that is filled with holiness and wholeness, righteousness and justice, and a deep and profound sense of God’s presence in our midst.
As congregation Torat El looks towards its future, in many ways we seek to emulate this type of world vision. As we strive to create kehillah kedosha, holy community in all senses of the word, we must all remember that it is up to all of us, collectively, to ensure that our dream becomes a reality. As we stand together today, at this incredible juncture as a community, we are well on our way. We have made great progress in the past few months, and will continue to do so in the years to follow. Our leadership has begun to discuss our core values that will guide this congregation moving forward. We have begun to discuss as a community what we would like to see in our ideal Torat El community and we have begun to take many small steps to turn our dream into a reality. Will this process be messy? Sometimes.
Will it be complicated? Sometimes. Will we make mistakes along the way? Yes, but we will learn from them. Do we feel settled yet- not quite (one building would help!) Do we all need to be patient- yes. But, we are well on our way!
We are well on our way to creating and bringing about our incredible future. As I stand before you today, as the first Rabbi of Congregation Torat El, I am humbled, honored, and awe struck by the responsibility and incredible opportunity that comes along with being your Rabbi. The clock is ticking. Time is passing. Let us continue to work toward our future. Hazak Hazak V’nithazek, Let us be strong, let us be strong, and together we will be strengthened!
