September 2011 Bulletin Message
by Rabbi Mark Dov Shapiro

For Your Consideration
Rabbi Mark Dov Shapiro

Every once in a while someone asks why I read Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream Speech” every Rosh Hashanah evening service.

You know the text, “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal." I have a dream…we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. Let freedom ring from every mountainside…And when this happens, we will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

I read the words at the end of our opening New Year service as a perfect introduction to the prayer book’s phrase from the prophet Zechariah,” On that day, o God, You shall be one and Your name shall be one.” The two texts fit together liturgically, poetically, and Jewishly because Dr. King’s words were prophetic just like Zechariah’s. Dr. King’s words capture the spirit of hope that lies at the core of Judaism.

“But, Rabbi, why read the words year after year? We’ve the heard the speech. We know it already.” Let me flip the question back at you. “Why read the Shema or any other prayer year after year? We know those words too. Why do we repeat them?”

Because we don’t come together for services in order to gain information. We pray together in order to affirm our convictions and bolster our faith.

I don’t read Dr. King’s words annually because they are new. I read them because they are important and challenging. The words focus and inspire me.

And that’s what we do in Jewish worship altogether. We challenge, focus, and inspire. We read old (and sometimes new) words because we haven’t yet fulfilled them. We’re still rehearsing. We’re still working to fulfill the dream. That’s what happens on Rosh Hashanah. Actually, it’s what happens at every service. I look forward to the journey as September arrives. I look forward to dreaming our best dreams as our New Year approaches.

Prior Bulletin Messages from the Rabbi are available on this site.