Elu V’Elu For June 2007
(Rabbi’s Corner)
Rabbi Gayle Pomerantz
Thomas Wolfe once said, “You can’t go home again,” but I think he was wrong. After our 18-month sojourn in Italy, we are home, renewed, refreshed and enriched by our Italian experience. I cannot describe how affirming it is to return to a place where you understand the people chatting next to you in line, where you don’t have to sweat about which definite article and verb tense to use before uttering a simple statement like “I ate pizza yesterday,” where you can run two major electrical appliances at the same time, where being Jewish is a living, vibrant reality rather than a historical fact, and where people know who you are and where you’re from. Home is that place of comfort, warmth, love and familiarity and it feels so good to be back.
When we create our homes, we attempt to build a place – a life – in which we are comfortable and safe. But sometimes the familiar becomes the mundane. Sometimes it allows us to become narrow. Sometimes we can lose sight of how much more there is beyond the island of Miami Beach. Indeed, there is much to be gained in having the opportunity to part from and return to that which we love. Any new venture forces us to dig deep and discover resources we might not have known that we had. Joanie Glickstein recently shared this piece of wisdom with me: “Challenges are gifts that force us to search for a new center of gravity. Don’t fight them. Just find a different way to stand (anonymous).” In Italy, I lost my balance a lot, but in the end, I found many new ways to stand. When we leave the familiar, we allow ourselves to reconsider old assumptions, be open to new possibilities, redefine who we are – we allow ourselves to grow.
For me, one of the most profound insights I gained from our experience in Europe is how blessed we are to live in our vital Jewish community with a plethora of opportunities for Jewish expression. Having grown up in Miami, attended Brandeis University, and lived in Israel, I had never lived in a place where there were but a handful of Jews, and where most people had never met a Jew before. This experience gave my children a new sense of pride and loyalty to the Jewish people, and ignited a passion within me to redouble my efforts to create and sustain Jewish souls.
I am delighted to be formally returning to Temple Beth Sholom in July with new ideas and renewed energy. It is with eternal gratitude that I thank the Temple leadership and staff for welcoming me back with open arms. I am looking forward to many opportunities to reconnect with you through learning, prayer, celebrating simchas, and continuing our efforts to repair the world. I am anxious to share our stories with you and hear your news and stories. This summer, I am also pleased and gratified that our very own Laila Haas, who just completed her first year of rabbinical school in Jerusalem, will be joining us as a rabbinic intern. Rabbi Glickstein, Rabbi Davis and, of course, her father, Cantor Haas, join me in kvelling over her accomplishments and welcoming her back to Temple Beth Sholom.
As this note reaches all of you all in the summer months, I hope that you are engaged in adventures of your own. Maybe you are traveling in a foreign country, challenging yourself in a new physical pursuit, or just “disconnecting” from the familiar. May this experience lead to self-discovery and growth. May it give you the opportunity to find a new center of gravity and new perspectives. And may you be blessed to come home, as we have, renewed, refreshed and enriched.
