True Jewish Heritage
Sermon Shabbat Emor 5782
Apparently May is Jewish Heritage Month in America, something I didn’t actually know until I read it this week. This commemoration has been a thing since 2006, when it was started as a belated way of celebrating the 350th Anniversary of American Judaism, which actually took place in 2004. Jewish Heritage Month was proclaimed by Congress in 2005, and in 2006 it was signed into law by then-President George W. Bush.
For this year’s celebration, President Joe Biden said that “The story of America was written, in part, by Jewish Americans who, through their words and actions, embraced the opportunity and responsibility of citizenship knowing full well that democracy is not born, nor sustained, by accident. Inspired by Jewish American communal leadership, our Nation’s first President pledged that our Government will “give to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance.” Inspired by Jewish American poetry, our shores have welcomed millions with the words “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free.” Throughout our country’s history, Jewish Americans have proudly served our Nation in uniform, in elected office, and on our Nation’s highest courts. They have made enormous contributions to America’s cultural, scientific, artistic, and intellectual life, and they have marched, petitioned, and boarded buses to demand civil and political rights for all — from women’s rights to voting rights to workers’ rights.”
High-minded words indeed, and accurate. Jews have played a central role in much of American history and development, and we continue to contribute tremendously to American life.
Still, I think I would be more excited about this American-Jewish Heritage Month if I hadn’t looked up just how many National Heritage Months our US Congress had already proclaimed. You probably were unaware of the fact that there are currently national heritage months for Irish-Americans, Italian-Americans, Greek-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, Filipino-Americans, Asian-Pacific Americans, Haitian-Americans, Native Americans, as well as Caribbean-Americans. For some reason, German-Americans only merit a single day on the calendar, not a whole month, but since Germans are very efficient that’s probably all they need. For us Jews, who are far messier, I think a month may not prove fully sufficient… in addition, of course, we also have Black History Month and Women’s History Month.
When you start looking at all the commemorations and holidays proclaimed by our federal government you begin to think that the Jewish calendar’s plethora of festivals isn’t really so over the top: there are actually 46 special months recognized by American presidential proclamation—46 special months when there are only 12 months in the year; only the government could manage that arithmetic!—as well as 20 special weeks and 47 special days recognized by presidential proclamation. This even makes the Catholic saints’ day calendar, which has had many more centuries to develop, seem kind of reasonable.
Just this month our American-Jewish Heritage Month is shared with Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, Haitian Heritage Month, South Asian Heritage Month, Older Americans Month, National Physical Fitness and Sports Month, National Foster Care Month, and Mental Health Awareness Month. At least I can understand sharing May with Mental Health Awareness Month—after all, we Jews invented psychology, once called “the Jewish science,” with Sigmund Freud as the principal creative force. And I am married to a psychologist, and Beit Simcha’s president is a psychologist. We should be very mentally healthy around here.
Some of my other favorite special American periods of national time include National Financial Literacy Month, National Cybersecurity Month, and the ever-popular National Critical Infrastructure Protection Month, all real winners in the excitement category. But who can fail to celebrate National Dairy Goat Awareness Week with appropriate festivities?
I was, however, distressed to learn that we no longer regularly celebrate another presidentially proclaimed holiday, National Catfish Day… But I was pleased to discover that today is National Apple Pie Day.
Now for all the excesses of publicly proclaimed special American months, weeks and days, the idea that certain periods of the year should be celebrated resonates with Jews quite naturally. In this week’s portion of Emor, which Allan will chant tomorrow, all the Biblical holidays, from Shabbat through Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur to Pesach, Shavu’ot and Sukkot are enumerated, including the seven weeks/50 days counting of the Omer that we ritually fulfilled earlier tonight. Each of these holy days are explicated with their timing, rationale, and ritual observances.
And of course, in addition to the many festivals spelled out in Emor, a number of other Jewish holidays have been added to the calendar over the more than 2000 years since the Torah was completed. We have added a slew of other holidays and commemorations: Purim, Hanukkah, Tu Bishvat, Tisha B’Av, Simchat Torah, Lag Ba’omer, Yom HaAtzm’aut, Yom HaShoah, and Yom Yerushalayim among other special times that make the Jewish ritual calendar both rich and complex. So, in a way, if you follow and observe the many Jewish holy days every month can seem like Jewish Heritage month.
In any case, May is indeed National Jewish American Heritage Month, and since we have been around here in America for 368 years now, ever since the first group of refugees from Brazil landed in New Amsterdam, and in an era when people now think that bagels are a purely American baked good it’s worth noting that our contributions to American society are extensive and go well beyond the culinary. But it is wise to highlight both the contributions Jews have made and continue to make to America, and the challenges we face today.
As President Biden’s proclamation continued, “Today, we continue to strive to live up to our founding ideals. As the scourge of white supremacy and antisemitic violence rises, we remain committed to ensuring that hate has no safe harbor. That is why we have created new laws that give us more tools to combat hate crimes; developed the first-ever National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism; provided assistance to religious organizations, places of worship, and nonprofits to protect their facilities and members; and named a new Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism. We will use the full force of our judicial system to confront bigotry and antisemitism wherever and whenever it surfaces.”
The proclamation concludes ringingly, “The Jewish American story, and the story of our Nation as a whole, is fueled by faith, resilience, and hope. It is a story defined by a firm belief in possibilities, the resolve to make real the promise of America for all Americans, and a commitment to perfecting our Union, heeding the timeless words of Rabbi Tarfon, the first-century scholar who taught ‘It is not your duty to finish the work, but neither are you at liberty to neglect it.’”
All true enough. So go ahead and feel especially proud to be an American-Jew for the rest of this month of May—and, of course, find a way to celebrate by doing things that are actually and actively Jewish, like attending Shabbat services, as you are doing tonight, or studying Torah, or taking classes, or enjoying Allan’s bar mitzvah tomorrow or coming to our big Shavu’ot celebration on Saturday night, June 4th.
Because something worth celebrating in one month of the year is well worth taking active pride in all the other months, too.