Rabbi's Message

Rabbi Elyse Wechterman
Read about the Rabbi
November 2003

Defining religion and more inspiring questions

Rachel Ammerman asked me to answer the following questions for her as part of a school project. I thought it would be interesting to share my responses. I'd love to hear your answers to these questions and others like them. If anyone feels compelled to write - please - I would be honored if you shared.

1. How would you define/understand religion?

I believe religious traditions, all religious and spiritual traditions, are tools to help human beings confront and deal with the ultimate questions of humanity: why are we hear? Why do we feel pain and hurt? Why is life sometimes so hard? How do I explain the great joys in my life, the capacity to love and feel for other human beings? What do I do to feel less alone in the world, less vulnerable?

A religious tradition, to be successful, does not necessarily give us answers, but helps us find others with whom to wrestle the questions.

Religions are human constructs and they are as positive or negative as humans allow them to be.

2. Have you ever had an awe-inspiring moment that you might call a spiritual experience of some sort? If yes, did it influence your decision to become a rabbi?

Yes - I have had such moments. But they are often fleeting and hard to describe afterward. I remember once, as a young girl, sitting on the bow of my parent's boat anchored in a harbor at night. I remember looking at the sky and the stars and suddenly feeling lifted out of myself - larger than my own body - I felt a part of everything and that everything was a part of me.

I don't know that that experience led me to become a rabbi explicitly. But I know that I have always wondered about those experiences - wanted more of them and wanted to know other people's experiences. Interestingly enough, that experience happened in the harbor of Watch Hill Rhode Island, not very far from here - so maybe I was not only meant to be a rabbi, but to be a rabbi in this part of New England!

3. Do you think religion has had a positive or negative influence on society? How do you feel you contribute to this influence as a friend, mom, wife, mentor and rabbi?

The answer to the first question is yes. Religions are human constructs and they are as positive or negative as humans allow them to be. I don't believe religion per se is responsible for all the evil or good in the world, but I believe people have used religious language and tradition to justify both great evil and great good.

As for my own influence in this area, I certainly hope that I teach and represent to people the good that we can do - I hope that in all the roles in my life I teach that people are reflections of and part of God's creation and that we have responsibility toward one another. I'm sure I often fail to live up to my own ideals, but I think overall I have probably had more positive effect on people than negative.

4. Do you feel a connection with God while leading prayer?

Sometimes. Sometimes it's hard - I'm worried about how I'm doing, if people can hear me, if they are following, if I sound ok, what page is next, etc. Getting myself out of the way is a necessary part of true prayer for me and that is hard to do when you have responsibility for others, but sometimes it happens - and then - yes - I feel God's presence in my heart.

5. Do you believe God puts everyone on earth for a purpose? Why do you think you are here? Were you put here by God to be a rabbi?

Ummm.... This is an interesting question. I don't think I believe in a God that stands up above and looks down and says - "hey - we need a new scientist" and then sends Mr. And Mrs. Einstein a baby Albert. How could that explain all the bad that people do?
I think it is more likely the case that we are here - who knows why or how we got here - but we are. And God has given us the opportunity to decide what to do with this one life we are given. The line I quoted on Rosh Hashanah from Harry Potter says it all to me: Albus Dumbledore tells Harry, "It is our choices, Harry, that show us who we truly are, far more than our abilities." I don't know how I ended up on this planet, with my parents, in this age, but I am here - so I pray everyday that my presence brings more light to the world, tips the scales of humanity toward justice and righteousness and that at the end of the day, I will have made more of a positive impact than a negative.

-- Rabbi Elyse