Judaism's wisest spiritual tradition?
Adapted from Rabbi Scheinberg’s sermon on the 2nd day of Rosh HaShanah 5765 (2004) Travel back in time with me - back to the year 1905, when this congregation was founded. Travel with me to a community of Eastern European Jewish immigrants, such as Hoboken NJ. Follow me into one of hundreds of Jewish restaurants and cafes throughout the New York area. We see a group of a number of men and women in their 20’s, dressed in fashionable clothing of the early 20th century in the United States. But they are surrounding one man of the same age, who looks like he just got off of the boat from Europe. He’s wearing an overcoat, and a hat, and he has an untrimmed beard. As you get closer, you overhear parts of the conversation: indeed, this man DID just get off the boat, and he is the cousin of one of the other, more American-looking men, who is introducing him to everyone else. All the others address the new immigrant in English, even