D'var Torah
December 10, 2004
My dear friends, this is Shabbat Shel Chanukah, the Sabbath of Chanukah, our People's Festival of Rededication. This week, almost 2200 years ago our Maccabean ancestors rebuilt the Temple in Jerusalem and rededicated it to the service of God. The Book of Maccabees I records: "They built the sanctuary and the interior of the temple and consecrated the new plaza on the east lawn [courts] and they decorated the front of the temple . . . and rededicated the gates and to the rabbi's office [priests' quarters], and completed all the work they had undertaken."
Ninety years ago this very week, our Temple Israel ancestors founded this synagogue in the heart of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and dedicated it to the service of God.
The Torah portion for this Shabbat is Miketz. It relates the story of Pharaoh's dreams and God's interpretation through Joseph. As you know, the Joseph narrative is a story about dreams. Through his own experiences, Joseph learns that it is not enough merely to dream; we must make something of our dreams if they are to become a reality.
For the Haftorah of this Shabbat of Chanukah, the rabbis chose the verse from Zachariah – "not by might and not by power, but by My sprit" says Adonai Tsvaot, the God of Hosts. I believe these four points are connected.
At least five years ago, lay leaders, clergy and staff began to dream of renovations to this historic building which was showing its age. Each year more and more money was being expended on repairs, creating a strain on the Temple budget. Temple Israel had been designed 50 years earlier for a congregation very different in make-up and needs. It was time for reconfiguration as well as renovation.
Then Temple President Harold Katz helped us select an architect and begin the planning process which gave direction to our dreams. Many dedicated congregants provided valuable input to this process. Plans drawn, Stan Burnstein and Kim Coretz headed a fundraising committee to solicit congregants to help make real the dreams and the plans.
During Temple President Shirley Burger's administration, we began the process of actual rebuilding, which is concluding now in President Ginny Katz's term. We would all acknowledge the Herculean, no the Maccabean efforts of Harold Katz who every day – literally – has overseen the refurbishing of our facilities.
Tonight, on this Shabbat of Chanukah, of Rededication, nine decades to the very week after this Temple was founded, we rededicate our beloved Temple Israel to the principals of Liberal Judaism. Within its beautifully refurbished walls, we shall continue to seek not escape from the storms of life, but courage to meet the struggles of life. We want our synagogue not to be a refuge from the anxieties of the world, but a renewed source of strength for waging the important battles for social justice, freedom and peace. To this end we rededicate our Temple, and to this task we now rededicate ourselves.
We continue to dream, O God, that those who will succeed us "will shine as the brightness of the firmament" because the religious imperatives of their lives will stem from this Temple. Many among us here today have worked very hard, like Joseph, to fulfill our dreams for Temple Israel. Yet we know well that it is not by our might or our power but, with God's help, guidance, support and inspiration that we have reached this moment. Therefore, as did our Maccabean ancestors more than two millennia ago, we tonight rededicate our Temple to the worship of God and the service of humankind. And together we thank God together for having kept us alive, sustained us and allowed us to reach this very, very special day. (Shehecheyanu)
