There is a story of a man who once stood before God, his heart breaking from the pain and injustice in the world. “Dear God,” he cried out, “look at all the suffering, the anguish, and distress in your world. Why don't you send help?” God responded, “I did send help. I sent you.”
We are each messengers from God, working in partnership with the Divine to ease the pain and suffering in the world. We each have a responsibility to this task. And yet, the burden of this work, as Moses realized in this weeks' Torah portion, can be overbearing and wearisome. In fact, in the Torah portion, Jethro, Moses's father-in-law, states, “You will surely wear yourself out, and these people with you. For this task is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone”. Rashi, an eleventh century master scholar of Torah, teaches that the word “weary” actually implies withering, like a fruit withering and falling off the vine. We can relate to this interpretation-how many of us have taken on too much with a project and felt stressed and overwhelmed? All the more so when faced with the ills of the world!
We cannot undertake the tasks of easing the burdens of the world alone; we will become too weary. But that does not free us from the work, as Pirke Avot, a compilation of Midrashim teaches: “it is not your duty to complete the work, but you are not free to desist from it” We each must decide the way that we will help to make the world a healthier place. As we accept responsibility for repairing the world, we become God's messengers on earth. The service of our hands becomes service to God.
In Hebrew, the word for volunteer is mitnadev. Hebrew is built on a root system; every word has a basic stem from which derivations of many other words are built. Here's an interesting insight to the word mitnadev: it comes from the root nadav, which means to be generous or willing. The same root gives us the word nediv, which is a noun that means nobleman or prince.
Therefore, volunteer and nobleman are related concepts! What we gather from unpacking the word itself is a vital concept in Judaism: the act of volunteering is an act of royalty and nobility.
The word volunteer, then, is probably not a great translation of the Hebrew word mitnadev. The word volunteer comes from the word Latin voluntarius, which means willing. The English word volunteer connotes the simple meaning of someone who wants to do something. The English word volunteer does not capture the true meaning of the word mitnadev.
Let's face it: in secular society, being a volunteer is just nice. It's not considered an act of royalty. Truthfully, secular society and culture put more value on work that is paid than work that is unpaid. America's royals are not those who volunteer but those who make millions of dollars. In secular language, we think of volunteering as mere activity. We volunteer at the soup kitchen and then we go to the movies.
From a Jewish perspective, however, being a mitnadev is more than just being a volunteer. It means being a noble, royal person. Being mitnadvim is more than being nice or kind. It is Jewish concept: becoming a mitnadev is about becoming one of God's messengers. It is becoming a noble person. One who gives of themselves is one fulfills a religious duty, and is therefore considered a holy and noble task.
For at least the last four years, members of our congregation have served meals to elderly members of our community who are in need of food, through Meals on Wheels. Members of our congregation deliver approximately 150 meals a week. Author Nikolai Berdyav wrote, “The question of bread for myself is a material question, but the question of bread for my neighbor is a spiritual question.” Delivering meals on wheels is a sacred obligation; for some of the recipients, it will be the only human face they see a day. The few minutes of idle conversation, a friendly smile, and a meal is food not only for the stomach, but for the soul as well. That is being, truly, a mitnadev.
Desmond Tutu, from an NPR interview in 1994, said, “We were made to enjoy music, to enjoy beautiful sunsets, to enjoy looking at the billows of the sea . . . Human beings are actually created for the transcendent, for the sublime, for the beautiful, for the truthful. . . and all of us are given the task to make this world a little more hospitable to look at these things.” Every week we are blessed with a volunteer choir in the Barshop Auditorium Service, and often a volunteer, like this evening, on our bimah in the Wulfe Sanctuary. Their voices are prayers. Their obvious joy, sharing their gifts with us and offering them as donations to God, enrich our worship beyond measure. They help make the world more transcendent, and help each of us connect more deeply with God. The act of singing, of offering gifts of talent to God and the community, is being a mitnadev.
This congregation would not, could not, function without our committee chairs and our board members. Committee members and Board Members use their own special skills-or develop new ones-to help govern and guide this congregation, keeping it dynamic, caring, and spiritual. They help greet at the door of the Sanctuary; make calls to parents to remind them of youth group programs; offer specialized services in areas of fiduciary responsibility; direct tours, such as we have this evening; offer insight to general processes of the building or our governance policies. This is just to name a few of the responsibilities of our committee chairs and board members. Truly, without them, this congregations' capacity to function at such a high level would be greatly diminished. The act of sharing one's time and talent for the greater good of the congregation; of helping to sustain and maintain this holy place, is being mitnadev.
And now I challenge you: Are you a mitnadev? Are you doing God's work on this earth?
I know many of you are guests here this evening; as you return to your faith community, or your circle of friends, do not consider yourselves un-challenged. Ram Dass and Paul Gorman teach, “Helping out is not some special skill. It is not the domain of the rare individuals. It is not confined to a single part or time of our lives. We simply heed the call of that natural caring impulse and follow where it leads.”
Where will your natural caring impulse lead you? As Jews, we volunteer not just because it's a nice thing to do for one's community but because it is a sacred obligation, a commandment from God to serve the interests of the common good and welfare. Jewish volunteers do their work because they want to. But it is more than that: we do our work because we are required to.
I have a CD that I listen to in the car, with my son, Isaac, by a singer song writer from Austin, Sara Hickman. The lyrics to her song, “We Are Each Others' Angels” reads in part:
go and fill somebody's cup
and if you see an angel falling
won't you stop and help her up
cuz we are each other's angels
and we meet when it is time
we keep each other going
and we show each other signs
We are, as Sara Hickman teaches, each others angels. We have the ability to lift each other up, and keep each other going, through a variety of different ways. In this congregation, we have many who have lifted others up through their musical gifts; have literally filled someone's cup, keeping them fed; keep each other going through serving the congregation. We have the obligation to do this, as part of our religious mission. We have the ability and the obligation to be mitnadvim-royal, willing messengers of God, doing God's work in this world.
E-mail Rabbi Bergman Vann
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