Rabbi's Message

Rabbi Elyse Wechterman
Read about the Rabbi
June 2003

FOUR DAYS OF SILENCE

As some of you know, I spent four days in the middle of May at a silent meditation retreat for rabbis. "WHAT? A GATHERING OF RABBIS WHERE NO ONE TALKED FOR FOUR DAYS?" you may ask. Yup - that's what it was - we sat in silence, walked in silence, ate in silence and lived in silence for four days - about 19 of us (including the instructors who talked a little). "IS THAT JEWISH?" you might ask. Well, sort of......

[It was] Hard because we are so good in our culture at filling up the airspace and making noise - lots of it - to distract us away from the inner most reaches of our hearts and souls.

Let me give you some background. The location was Elat Chayyim, a Jewish spiritual retreat and learning center in Accord, New York, in the Catskills. The program, partially funded by the Nathan Cummings Foundation, was part of several initiatives begun over the past few years to enhance Jewish spirituality and spiritual resources and is designed to unearth the spiritual riches of our tradition using some of the tools from other, Eastern traditions - namely Buddhism. Many rabbis, rabbinical students, cantors and other Jewish leaders have participated in similar programs around the country representing Reconstructionist, Reform, Conservative and Orthodox communities and backgrounds.

So this program is a little offbeat, but not all that unusual in today's age of growing spiritual interest and in some way is downright mainstream.

So now that I have justified and explained my presence at this program I'll answer what is likely to be your next question: "HOW DID YOU SIT IN SILENCE FOR FOUR DAYS?"

Well - it was hard. Also very peaceful, warm, insightful, tiring, physically painful, relaxing, spiritual, fun, interesting and a host of other adjectives I could come up with. But mostly, it was just hard.

Hard because we are so good in our culture at filling up the airspace and making noise - lots of it - to distract us away from the inner most reaches of our hearts and souls. We fill up our lives with work, family, entertainment, hobbies, household necessities, exercise, news and information. So much comes at us in a minute-by-minute basis that we rarely have time for what is going on within - we often don't even notice what is going on with our own bodies, let alone minds and hearts. And the thought of slowing down is scary - real scary to some of us who are afraid of what we might find inside ourselves if we look too deeply.

So the retreat was hard - I was asking myself to sit still and be present to each passing moment, noticing who and what I am. The goal of such a practice is to reach heights of greater awareness of ourselves and the world around us - awareness which at some point leads to an awareness of the transitory nature of all life, the inevitability of death, the finite nature of oneself and the infinite nature of the universe to which we are connected. In short, it is about becoming aware of that which many of us call God.

In asking myself to become silent, I put myself in the place of Elijah in the text I have shared with many of you:

Elijah went into a cave and spent the night and lo, God passed by. There was a great and mighty wind, splitting mountains and shattering rocks by the power of God, but God was not in the wind. After the wind, an earthquake, but God was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake, there was fire, but God was not in the fire. And after the fire a still, small voice within. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his mantle about his face and went out. Then a voice addressed him: "Why are you here Elijah?"

The text gives us Elijah's answer, but it is that haunting question, "Why am I here," that we are all left with once the distractions and noise of the day (the wind and earthquakes) die down and we find ourselves in silence.

Lest you think four days of this practice is really enough, let me assure you I haven't found any answers yet. I'm still at the beginning of this journey, finding it enough of a challenge just to recognize the noises in my life and look past them. But it is a journey I hope to continue and on which I invite you to join. I will be looking at ways to incorporate silence and meditation time into the life of this community - before services, in the early mornings - and I invite you to come and join me in seeking the quiet place of contemplation or to just watch as this process unfolds and we see what comes out of it.

B'Shalom
(In Peace)
Rabbi Elyse