Newsletter Weekly Guest Statement

Larry Lockshin
Co-President UPJ

This week’s Parsha, B’har – B’chukotai, focuses on the Sabbath for the land every seven years and the jubilee year after seven regular Sabbaths of the land (50 years).  Many modern interpretations use this Parsha to discuss environmentalism and ways to ‘rest’ ourselves and our world. I was taken by a different interpretation by Rabbi Dvora E. Weisberg, who extends the interpretation of the Parsha to maintaining a just and humane society:

“Even in a world where humans desperately need each other for survival, there are individuals who use their power to acquire resources and control other human beings. They believe that power and wealth can insulate them from perceived dangers, such as those posed by the less fortunate, from disease, from the rigors of climate change, even from death itself. People barricade themselves in gated communities, build bunkers to withstand cataclysmic upheaval, and invest in technology that they hope will allow them to preserve their bodies until science finds a way to extend life. But the Torah warns us that if we fail to live up to our commitments, our cities and places of sanctuary will be ruins and the land will be desolate (Lev. 26:31-32).”

Rabbi Weisberg suggests it is the Israelite community that has the capacity for holiness through its collective acceptance of a vision.  She says, “Only when individuals see themselves as part of the community, responsible for their own behaviour and for the welfare of those around them, can they be am kadosh, a holy people.”

There is little need to reiterate the difficulties we are experiencing in Australia and around the world as Jews. We are struggling as a community within our larger societies. Our survival will depend on our ability to maintain and even grow our community by looking out for each other.  This vision is what the UPJ focuses on in its list of values); the number 1 value is Building Communities.
We do this through many projects.

Recently, we have highlighted our Progressive Appeal for Israel Campaign as a way to build pluralistic and democratic interpretations of Judaism in Israel. We have just completed our Governance Course, training Board members of our congregations to better manage their synagogues while maintaining Jewish values. Our 10-week Shaliach-Tzibbur, lay-leader training program starts next week to help build service leaders across our communities and lend strength to each congregation
Shatz course

We are well on the way in planning our biennial conference, B’Yachad Kadimah, Forward Together, which will be held in Melbourne 19-22 November. The theme is all about community building through 3 days of interaction, education, song, and worship. The program is taking shape with a combination of local expertise and our featured international guest, Orly Erez Likhovsky, Executive Director of the Israel Religious Action Centre. Orly will be speaking about her work in Israel, which is supported by the UPJ Progressive Appeal and will sit on a panel discussing the future of Reform/Progressive Judaism in Israel and Australia. She is also the co-host of a weekly newsletter and a great podcast, The Pluralist, and will be recording a session for the podcast live from the conference.  We hope to see you in Melbourne in November!

All of our activities help us on our path to becoming a holy people. It is not just through religious worship that we build and maintain our communities. It is through mutual projects, through Tikkun Olam, through art and food that we will continue to be strong and resilient.