Rockville Centre messages for the Jewish New Year

A path to God and spiritual fulfillment

When we recite the Amidah, the Standing Silent Prayer, we begin by invoking our Patriarchs, and in the liberal Jewish movements our Matriarchs as well, and we say, “God of Abraham and Sarah, God of Isaac and Rebecca, God of Jacob, Rachel and Leah.” Interestingly, we do not begin by noting our personal connection to God but rather the link between our ancestors and God. What we are today, and the values that we espouse, as well as the traditions that we live by, we owe to those who came before us and taught us. We acknowledge that we are the spiritual descendants of generation upon generation of those who sought and found God. Many today in our communities are involved in the seeking process, but have not yet found a spiritually satisfying connection to God. That is why it is so important to take note of the formulation of the opening passage of the Amidah.

If the formula was stated as “God of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob Rachel and Leah,” that would indicate that they all shared the same God. But we have a distinction along generational lines that hints to us that the God of Isaac and Rebecca was not the same as that of Abraham and Sarah and that the God of Jacob, Rachel and Leah was not the same as that of Isaac and Rebecca. Not the same God? Certainly our Patriarchs and Matriarchs shared the same beliefs, among them the belief in One God! However, the perception and conception of that God changed and evolved from generation to generation and each generation has had the privilege of defining its own relationship to God.

I have met many people in our extended Jewish community, those born into our family and those who have chosen to join us, who express a sense of “disconnect” that stems from their professed lack of belief in God. I am convinced, however, that they share with many of us a profound belief in something spiritual but reject the God definitions that have been offered them. Like those who came before us, we have the z’chut, the privilege, of seeking a definition and conception of God that will enable our generation to feel spiritually