From the Bimah: Jewish Lessons for Life
Pre-Ne’ilah Guest Speaker Bruce Feiler
At first blush, Bruce Feiler might seem like a curious choice for the climactic close of Yom Kippur, the holiest day of our year. After all, Yom Kippur is Judaism’s most ritual-intensive day. We fast, pray, confess, reflect, seek forgiveness, and immerse ourselves in practices that have shaped Jewish life for centuries.Why, then, invite a speaker whose newest book, A Time to Gather: How Ritual Created the World—and How It Can Save Us, explores the creation of new rituals for life’s modern transitions?A bestselling author and one of America’s leading thinkers on family, faith, and meaning, Bruce Feiler began this project after he and his wife, Linda, dropped off their twin daughters at college on the very same day and suddenly found themselves empty nesters. Returning home, he found himself, as he puts it, “homesick in his own home.” What rituals, he wondered, help us navigate moments like these?In A Time to Gather, he explores both the weakening of many traditional rituals and the emergence of new ones: rituals surrounding fertility struggles, divorce, caregiving, LGBTQ+ weddings, empty nesting, and other major life transitions.His work raises a profound question, especially on Yom Kippur:What is the relationship between the rituals we inherit and the rituals we create?Can ancient rituals and new rituals strengthen one another? Do those who find meaning in the traditions of Yom Kippur also have room in their hearts for rituals crafted for modern experiences? And can newly created rituals deepen our appreciation for the wisdom embedded in inherited rituals?At Ne’ilah, our Rabbi Samuel Chiel Sanctuary is jam-packed with people standing for the last hour of Yom Kippur, approaching the open Ark, facing Torah scrolls, surrounded by love, pouring fourth their heart to their Creator. It is a space and time filled with feeling. Right before that moment, Bruce Feiler will invite us to consider not only the rituals that have formed us, but also the rituals we need for the chapters of our life that still lie ahead.What role does ritual play in your life? Which rituals have helped form you? And which rituals do you still need?
