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Yesterday as I sat writing my sermon, I was struggling for hope, I asked the question, when the law of the land is antithetical to your convictions of right and wrong what do you do? How do you balance the “rule of law” with this injustice of laws? What is the appropriate way to protest, fight against and make a difference. What is the appropriate way to follow my convictions and be a good citizen? 

Yesterday afternoon while I was in the middle of asking these questions, news broke that the 6-week Abortion ban was not going to pass in Nebraska. I had lost hope that that would be possible. I know that those fighting to implement the abortion ban are asking the same question I am, when the law is unjust according to your convictions how do you appropriately fight to rectify it and change the law? There is probably no subject that humans have disagreed on, that has not had people question what they will do, how they will act, will they follow bad unjust laws, or will they participate in some form of resistance to them? Will that resistance be the slow movement and organizing of the past 50 years' right to life movement? Or will it be the violent uprising expressed on January 6, 2021? How will I help bend the arc toward morality? And if that is what those I disagree with also believe they are doing…how do I know my interpretation of morality is correct? 

I could tell you that the difference between right and wrong is obvious. I could ask you to use common sense. I could tell you to read the bible, the Quran, the Constitution. But honestly, I think all of these locations would still lead us to disagree, after all the Rabbis have spent centuries disagreeing over the meaning of verses of the Bible, just as lawyers and judges have over the Constitution. So where do I find my convictions, and how do I draw my line in the sand? 

I am a lifelong Reform Jew and many of my convictions about morality come from the interpretations of Jewish law and tradition through the lens of Reform Judaism. Reform Judaism takes our traditional texts and methodologies but has prioritized a lens of: individual choice, egalitarianism, and the divinity of all humans, to interpret laws and traditions.  

For traditions like holiday observance and dietary practice Reform Judaism honors tradition: holding worship services, teaching about candle lighting, and maintaining some dietary rules for the community (such as no pork and shellfish) but generally encourages individual choice and exploration. Learn about it, try it, create a meaningful practice, and choose some of it even if ALL of it is a no-go. 

For questions of Morality Reform Judaism takes stances where sometimes the notion of B’tzelem Elohim, the idea that all humans are created in the image of God, take priority over parts of our traditional teachings. Reform Judaism's stance in support of the LGBTQ community is one of these stances. We believe the divine nature of our fellow human beings overtakes Levitical prohibitions around sex and dress; and the divine exclamation that it is not good for humans to be alone encourages us towards marriage equality, and “love is love.”  

It is true that over time the Reform movement's stance shifts and adjusts, just as our worship practices change, evolve and grow over the history of the movement, we continue to reform; the work is never completed. But we do not jump onto a political bandwagon for the sake of politics, we see how our tradition, interpretations, and laws impact our community members and when we see that our tradition is causing harm, we attempt to address it. When our tradition causes harm by disempowering women, we seek egalitarian paths. When it causes harm by dismissing the humanity of homosexuals, we seek restoration of dignity and humanity, reinterpreting text and creating ceremonies of celebration and marriage. When we see tradition and government harming our community members who are transgender or gender fluid we return to our Reform Jewish lens and stand up to prevent laws from being enacted which will harm these members and which will deny us a religious duty to accept them in their wholeness.  

While understanding right and wrong, is very challenging, and agreeing on morality may be a lost cause, we must turn as best we can, to our traditional Reform Jewish methods to seek out God’s charge for us as best we can. In this week’s Torah portion, God commands us to: “K’doshim Tih’yu ki kadosh Ani, Adonai Eloheichem; You shall be holy, for I, the Eternal your God, am holy.” (Lev 19:2) We are required to be holy for God is holy. Chapter 19 of Leviticus is full of short clause black and white methodologies of holiness: 

Don’t reap all the way to the edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Don’t steal, don’t deal deceitfully or falsely with one another, don’t defraud, or commit robbery. Don’t insult the deaf, or place a stumbling block before the blind… 

While the list goes on, it does not cover all subjects, nor does it share the nuance of situational differentiation. What it consistently teaches is that fairness, justice, and equality are holy. And ultimately, we are commanded to be holy. I may not know on every issue which side is holy, but on current political hot-button issues I have strong conviction that the correct, individual choice, egalitarian and divine humanity lens means that abortion must be legal, transgender people of all ages are full humans entitled to the best medical care available without governmental interference AND if the laws of Nebraska or the United States change to prevent these moral choices I will find a moral and appropriate way to resist the law so that I can be holy and advocate for divine holiness. 

I’d like to share with you a song I wrote a number of years ago, based on this torah portion: 

Kadosh Ata—You shall be holy 
Joanna Alexander, based on Leviticus 19 

"Kadosh ata, ki kadosh Ani
Kadosh ata Elohim 
Kadosh ata ki kadosh Anochi, Kadosh k’li 
Kadosh ata, ki kadosh li, kadosh Elohim 

You shall be holy for I am holy 
You shall by holy like Me. 
You shall be holy for I Your God am holy 
You shall be holy like Me. 

Love your neighbor as yourself. 
Don’t put stumbling blocks before the blind! 
Be honest in business with your weights and your measures. 
And don’t, don’t cheat, be kind. 

You shall be holy for I your God am holy, 
You shall be holy like Me. 
You shall be holy for I Your God am holy, 
Ki kadosh Ani, Ki kadosh Elohim. 

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Watch the entirety of Friday’s service here. 

Temple Talk is a recap of sermons given from the Bimah for those who missed a Sermon or who wanted to revisit the words spoken at a previous sermon.