I would like to share a story with you all; a story I came upon some time ago, that continues to percolate in my mind, like one of those songs by the Carpenters that you can’t get out of your head. It’s about a husband and wife going out to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary with dinner at a fancy restaurant. Leaving the restaurant, they get into their car to drive home, and the wife turns to her husband and says, “What’s happened to us over the years? Do you remember when we were dating, and when we were first married, we’d get into the car and we’d snuggle up next to each other and drive home holding each other? Now look how far apart we’re sitting.” And the husband points to the steering wheel and says “I haven’t moved.”

What is the meaning here? Who’s who? What is this story really about?
Is this about my ever-evolving relationship with my wife?
Is this about my own personal evolution? Maybe I’m the passenger and this is about my original goals and dreams, which reside behind the wheel? Like a younger version vs older version of myself.
Or maybe it’s as the country song says, it’s God in the driver’s seat? – the immovable, spiritual center which we all crave, but sometimes move away from?

Because Spirituality is a basic human need. We need to be in touch with a higher plane of thinking now and then. It is important and necessary. But where do you find it? Where does this absolute center reside? Where are you going to look for your God behind the steering wheel?

Some people say they find God in a sunrise or sunset, or on the golf course, or the ever-popular spiritual walk in the woods. Maybe you will look for your spirituality in movies or on TV, or in books, or at Bloomingdales. Some people look for their spiritual meaning in the bar room, or in the bedroom or in the kitchen. Or maybe in song, or at your workplace. Or as Gandhi said, “To a hungry man a piece of bread is the face of God”.

For many of us, the Synagogue is the primary pathway to spirituality. Our Hebrew prayers are not magical incantations that conjure God as if pulling a genie from a bottle. And I couldn’t come close to being able to translate the Hebrew into English. But the familiar cadence and melodies of our prayers allow space for thought and reflection during worship services. Some find that Torah study and adult education open up their everyday world to new ideas and deeper thinking. Social action projects connect us to the broader world around us, and expose us to a different perspective. For some, the Temple social events are what connects them, and attendance at the wine or dinner events is surpassed only on the HHD. We are social creatures and connecting with a network and belonging are essential to our mental health and feelings of completeness. After all, the word ‘religion’ comes from the Latin word meaning ‘to bind together.’ Almost all of the announcements I send out contain the three words, “please join us”. As you look for your own personal pathway to God and spirituality, I hope you will take advantage of the TSS community, clergy, and activities – and that is my primary message to the congregation today. Take advantage of the TSS community, clergy, and activities.

During the next weeks, months, or year, there will undoubtedly be times when you will feel alone, in need, lost, spiritually empty. That means it’s time to move back to your spiritual center. I truly hope you will find your way. I hope you will use our Temple as a path back to God and your sense of spiritual wholeness. God is still in the driver’s seat, and hasn’t moved.

May you have an easy fast and may you be sealed for a good and spiritual year.