Being a Blessing

Rabbi Elliot Dorff, PhD

Sol & Anne Distinguished Professor in Philosophy, Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies

University Rector, American Jewish University

Rabbi Elliot Dorff, PhD is AJU’s Rector and Sol & Anne Dorff Distinguished Service Professor in Philosophy. He is Chair of the Conservative Movement's Committee on Jewish Law and Standards and served on the editorial committee of Etz Hayim, the new Torah commentary for the Conservative Movement. He has chaired four scholarly organizations: the Academy of Jewish Philosophy, the Jewish Law Association, the Society of Jewish Ethics, and the Academy of Judaic, Christian, and Islamic Studies. He was elected Honorary President of the Jewish Law Association for the term of 2012-2016. In Spring 1993, he served on the Ethics Committee of Hillary Rodham Clinton's Health Care Task Force. In March 1997 and May 1999, he testified on behalf of the Jewish tradition on the subjects of human cloning and stem cell research before the President's National Bioethics Advisory Commission. In 1999 and 2000 he was part of the Surgeon General’s commission to draft a Call to Action for Responsible Sexual Behavior; and from 2000 to 2002 he served on the National Human Resources Protections Advisory Commission, charged with reviewing and revising the federal guidelines for protecting human subjects in research projects. Rabbi Dorff is also a member of an advisory committee for the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History on the social, ethical, and religious implications of their exhibits. He is also a member of the Ethics Advisory Committee for the state of California on stem cell research.

He has been an officer of the FaithTrust Institute, a national organization that produces seminars and educational materials to help people avoid or extricate themselves from domestic violence. For eight years he was also been a member of the Board of Directors of the Jewish Federation Council of Los Angeles, chairing its committee on serving the vulnerable. In Los Angeles, he is a Past President of Jewish Family Services and a member of the Ethics committee at U.C.L.A. Medical Center. He serves as Co-Chair of the Priest-Rabbi Dialogue of the Los Angeles Archdiocese and the Board of Rabbis of Southern California.

posted on October 31, 2009

Torah Reading

Genesis 12:1 - 17:27

Haftarah Reading

Isaiah 40:27 - 41:16

"And all the families of the earth shall bless themselves by you." (Genesis 12:3)

This verse articulates both a blessing and a challenge for Jews throughout the generations. The blessing is that the Jewish heritage that Abram was about to initiate indeed enriches us and all who come in contact with us to the extent that we let it into our lives. We experience it as a blessing, and it is objectively so. It provides us, among many other things, with a high set of values, historical roots, a community, the tools to make an art of life, the rituals to mark the seasons of time and of life so as to make them meaningful, a theological lens through which to understand God, ourselves, and others, and hope for the future. It is thus an unqualified blessing for us, and the families of the earth may well bless themselves by saying, "May we be like the descendants of Abram."

Later the Torah will rephrase this thought by focusing on the wisdom of the Jewish tradition - that is, the ways in which Judaism teaches us how to function well in the world. Wisdom is knowledge gained through experience. One who is wise knows the ways of the world and can function well in life. Such a person knows how to interact with others and how to achieve one's goals. He or she has savior faire. The Torah says that the Torah is such a fount of wisdom that even the other people's of the earth will wish that they had a heritage that gave them as much wisdom:

See, I [Moses] have imparted to you laws and rules, as the Lord my God has commanded me, for you to abide by in the land that you are about to invade and occupy. Observe them faithfully, for that shall be proof of your wisdom and discernment to other peoples, who, on hearing of all these laws will say, "Surely, that great nation is a wise and discerning people." For what great nation is there that has a god so close at hand as the Lord our God whenever we call upon him? Or what great nation has laws and rules as perfect as all this Teaching that I set before you this day? (Deuteronomy 4:5-8)

Jews born into Judaism all too often forget what a blessing Judaism is. We take for granted the meaning and content it gives to our lives. We also take for granted the tone it sets for life, a feisty, intellectual openness to questioning and challenge along with a thick communal texture to nurture and challenge us. Jews by choice appreciate this much more. As one who has had the privilege to participate in a number of rabbinic courts interviewing people who are about to go through the rituals that will make them Jews, I never cease to find myself surprised by the many parts of Judaism that attract people to join our ranks, and I am reminded of the blessings that I was born into by sheer chance. I wish that born Jews would all have that experience so that they might appreciate what we have been given. As the early morning liturgy says, "Lucky are we! How good is our portion, how pleasant our lot, how beautiful our heritage!"

At the same time, though, being a blessing to the other peoples of the earth is a challenge, for we must act in a way that demonstrates the blessings of our heritage. The Jewish tradition articulates this challenge in the concept of Kiddush ha'Shem, sanctifying God's Name, and its opposite, Hillul ha'Shem, desecrating God's Name.

I first learned these concepts from Rabbi Burton Cohen, who then was Director of Camp Ramah in Wisconsin. The nearest town of any size to camp was Eagle River, and a popular ice cream parlor that staff would visit on days off was Zimpleman's. In 1962, when I was spending my first year as a counselor, the only camp, and certainly the only Jewish camp, near Eagle River was Ramah. Furthermore, Eagle River had a resident population of about 1,000 people, who knew each other and easily recognized summer interlopers. So Rabbi Cohen, during staff week, told us: "When you go into Zimpleman's, you are not just yourself there; you are a Ramah staff member. In fact, you are not just a Ramah staff member, you are a Jew. So your behavior in Zimpleman's reflects not only on you personally, but on Ramah and on the entire Jewish people!" That was my introduction to Jewish guilt! It was also my introduction to the Jewish value of Kiddush ha'Shem, of sanctifying God's Name, through the way one acts in an exemplary manner – and its reverse, Hillul ha'Shem, reflecting badly on God, the heritage that God gave us, and the Jewish people by acting poorly in one's interactions with others. We have the duty to act in such a way that non-Jews indeed do bless themselves through us, saying, "May you be – act, empathize, study, extend yourself to others – like Jews."

May we all appreciate the many blessings that Judaism affords us, and may we live out our Jewish lives such that we are indeed blessings to everyone we meet.