By Joe Glickman
I volunteered after several requests to lead Congregation Shir Shalom in the important position of President. I have been on the board of Congregation Shir Shalom, and previously Temple Beth Am for many years in one or another executive position. I felt I was ready and capable of doing the job and had a good cadre of experienced volunteers on the Board of Directors who could support me in all the decisions and positions that needed to be taken. After all, with the many years’ experience I had, and the fact that my parents were both Temple Presidents and my gathering of their experiences in real time, I should be able handle all that would come before me. So now, we begin year 2.
I discovered one of the key attributes of my job quite by chance. It was in front of me for some time as I attended Shabbat services regularly. When we say prayers, we are generally asking for something, or we might be thanking g-d or saying we are sorry. One prayer is really none of these. It is the Shema. Shema Yisrael, Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Echad. “Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our G-d, the Lord is one.”
The first word is Shema, the Hebrew word “Listen”. It instructs us to listen, because the next part is paramount to Judaism and our being one with G-d. The prayer comes from Deuteronomy 6:4-9, a Torah portion recited a few weeks ago. It is perhaps the most important prayers we recite. It affirms our oneness with G-d, but just importantly, it instructs all of Israel to listen. It is placed in the middle of the service as we practice in the reform movement. It is a daily prayer for many Jews and should be recited when we wake up and when we go to sleep.
One of the most important traits we should acknowledge is the ability to listen, to hear what others are saying. This is a skill we learn it is not something that occurs naturally. To me, it is less important to be the voice of leadership without being the ears of leadership and hearing the people we are leading. We all know political leaders, bosses, parents, and friends who like to speak on our behalf with authority, but we all wonder, are they really listening to us?
The Torah has many important lessons. The Torah has profound prayers; it commands us to live our lives according to our faith. But most importantly, as I discovered, Torah teaches us in many ways how to be better people in our everyday lives and obligations. On Shabbat, we open the prayer book and there in front of us are answers to a better understanding of who we are.
Shema and Shabbat Shalom!
Joe Glickman is the President of Congregation Shir Shalom, and a Board Member of the Network of Religious Communities.
