Rabbis Seek Divine Words for Sermons

This is a high-pressure time of year for rabbis--but most of those in Southern California have a secret weapon to cope with it.

The typical leader of a Jewish synagogue ought now to be finishing work on three to seven brilliant, timely, stirring sermons for the jam-packed High Holy Day services, which begin Friday with Rosh Hashanah eve.

“This is a very tense time for most rabbis,” said Rabbi Lawrence Goldmark of La Mirada.

“You have to be good; you can’t mess up,” added Rabbi Abner Weiss of Beverly Hills, citing the chance to inspire thousands of Jews who rarely go to synagogue outside the 10-day repentance period ending with Yom Kippur, the holiest day on Judaism’s calendar.

In Southern California, though, many rabbis help each other every year at an unpublicized brainstorming seminar that includes an exchange of printed sermons.

It may be the best-kept secret of the Southern California Board of Rabbis. It is by far its best-attended meeting.

About 80 rabbis--from the Reform and Reconstructionist branches to the Conservative and Orthodox--went to this year’s seminar Aug. 13 at the Stephen S. Wise Temple in the Sepulveda Pass.

Nearly half--38 rabbis--put one of their old sermons in the pot in return for a packet of sermons from all the other donor-participants.

Lest lay synagogue members think they are listening to recycled sermons from other temples, Goldmark said that most colleagues simply scan the printed sermons for ideas and anecdotes.

Rabbis aren’t the only clergy who welcome sermon ideas, anecdotes and examples from pulpit counterparts. Catholic and Protestant clergy can choose among dozens of printed sermon collections and preaching resources. “I subscribe to four services and refer to a book on homiletics”--the art of preaching--said Father Sean Flanagan of Reseda’s St. Catherine of Seina Catholic Church.

“There is universal stealing among preachers,” observed Irwin Trotter, a retired professor of preaching at the School of Theology at Claremont. He noted that two prominent United Methodist pastors in San Diego and Santa Monica sell reprints of their sermons to subscribing ministers.

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Mainline and evangelical ministers have found “a boatload of resources growing by the day” through computer online services, said Quentin Schultze, professor of communication at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich., citing one example offering over 7,000 sermons.

Printed sermon collections still abound, even in Jewish circles. The American Rabbi, a quarterly magazine edited by Rabbi Harry Essrig of West Hills, has about 850 subscribers. “I think what most rabbis do is file them and keep them for reference,” said Essrig, who recently served as an interim rabbi at Temple Solael in West Hills.

Thinking about what to say during the High Holy Days begins well before September.

“Most of us go on vacation in July but always hanging over our heads is the knowledge that when we get back we have to write our sermons,” said Goldmark, who is president-elect of the Board of Rabbis and executive vice president of Reform rabbis in the Pacific region.

Rabbi Carole L. Meyers of Temple Sinai in Glendale said her efforts begin in the spring.

“From about the middle of April, everything I read and every conversation I have may give me something that could wind up in a High Holy Day sermon,” she said. Meyers also exchanges ideas with a couple of rabbis or faxes a sermon draft to friends for comments.

Like other clergy, however, Meyers endorses the Board of Rabbis’ yearly seminar for the chance to “learn from each other” and lift each other’s spirits. This year they came from as far away as San Luis Obispo, San Bernardino and San Diego, and some rabbis in other states request tapes from the seminar, said Michele Kirsch, the rabbinical board’s administrative assistant.

Rabbi Paul Dubin, executive vice president of the board, pointed out that many rabbis attend for more than sermon ideas.

“Some rabbis come even if they have most of their own sermons done--for the reactions and for companionship,” Dubin said.

“It’s the ingathering of the flock--rabbis who have not seen one another for a year--and a preparation of the spirit for a new year,” said Rabbi Harold Schulweis of Encino, referring to Rosh Hashanah, the start of the Jewish new year.

At the session, Schulweis and eight other rabbis gave 15-minute summaries of one of their planned sermons. Schulweis outlined what he said will be “an attack on the obsession with numbers assigned to a person” to predict how we will fare in life through IQs, SATs and other measurements.

Schulweis will be giving only three different sermons during the holidays because three other rabbis share duties at Valley Beth Shalom.

Conservative and Orthodox synagogues observe Rosh Hashanah for two days, Reform only one day. A rabbi who is the sole spiritual leader at a Reform temple, such as Goldmark at Temple Beth Ohr in La Mirada, will normally craft five different sermons.

However, for a Conservative rabbi such as Elie Spitz at the 360-family Congregation B’nai Israel in Tustin, seven different pulpit messages are required.

As it turned out, Spitz drew the most animated response from rabbis attending last month’s seminar when he summarized his plans to deal with “evidence of other realms of existence and to affirm out-of-the-ordinary levels of awareness.”

In an interview this week, Spitz said he summarized a sermon that deals not only with the traditional Jewish belief in an afterlife, but also the supernatural. Modern Judaism has been uncomfortable with claims of near-death experiences and premonitions, he said.

“I will include a story about a funeral I conducted in which there were things like a slip of the tongue in my eulogy for which I apologized only to find out it was a pet name for the widow,” Spitz said.

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“The supernatural is an important topic, but almost taboo” in synagogues, said Spitz, referring to the traditional emphasis on rational thought in modern Judaism. Rabbis’ comments at the seminar ranged from those who “warned of the dangers of such beliefs to testimonials by other rabbis sharing how these phenomena occurred in their experience,” he said.

The varied reactions to Spitz’s presentation illustrate the value of comparing notes, said Orthodox Rabbi Abner Weiss, the current president of the Board of Rabbis.

“Some people said it was nonsense, but others reflected an openness to spiritual experiences that haven’t been normative--almost as if they were waiting for a colleague to say it,” Weiss said.

The seminar’s final panel, called “The Birth of a Sermon,” was an experiment, Weiss said. The audience was invited to throw a topic at a small group of rabbis, who were asked to improvise sermon elements on the spot.

“Improv at the temple,” quipped Weiss. “It was fun.”