Prayer leads to action

CYNTHIA RAMSAY

Prayer is an integral part of life, but it's not enough. The goal of prayer is action and, through acts of giving, for example, we not only save a life, but God's life, as well.

This was the inspirational message delivered by Rabbi Naomi Levy at the second annual Choices dinner, held Nov. 7, in the Wosk Auditorium at the Schara Tzedeck Synagogue. According to Choices co-chair Lisa Boroditsky, who opened the Combined Jewish Appeal Women's Division event, there were 350 women in attendance.

"I am excited to announce that there are 89 new gifts towards the Women's Division from this event and we have raised over 48,000 new dollars, for a total of $1.5 million for the Women's Division," said Boroditsky, to the applause of the packed room. "This is a 9.5 per cent increase over last year. How extremely proud we should all feel."

Choices features a Jewish woman who has made choices in her life that impact Jewish women around the world. The event was "born out of a desire to include more women in living and giving generously," said Marni Chark, who was also co-chair of the event, along with Boroditsky and Andi Isserow, who introduced the rabbi. "We realized that we wanted to reach out and share our passion about community in the life-saving work that we all do as women."

CJA Women's Division chair Bev Libin, who recently returned from a Canadian mission to Israel, shared some details of that life-saving work.

"To see how 90 per cent of the damage has already been repaired and how the lives of the people go on as normal, it is absolutely amazing," said Libin. "We, all of us, have helped the rebuilding of so many lives and community spaces."

Levy, who grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y., and now lives in Venice, Calif., with her husband and their two children, knows what it means to rebuild a life and to begin again.

With humor, she eased the audience into her talk, explaining how she had wanted to be a rabbi since the age of four. She said the general response from people was "how cute!"; the way she would react, for example, if her son told her that he wanted to be a pirate. She said she couldn't pinpoint the exact reasons for her calling, but attributed it to her close relationship with her father, with whom she studied, among other things. Her father was murdered by a mugger when she was 15 years old, she said, adding that the killer has yet to be found.

Levy went on to say that not only had her father died, but, in effect, so too had her mother, the holidays, her faith in doctors and police. "I walked around angry a long time," she said.

It was then that Levy said she began to accept that God was not a superhero, that God could not stop evil. As she slowly renewed her faith, with the understanding that all God can do is give us the strength to live and overcome obstacles, the "dream of a four-year-old girl, which had also died for a time, was resurrected."

In 1984, Levy was in the very first class of women to enter the Jewish Theological Seminary's rabbinical school. In 1989, she became the first female Conservative rabbi to head a congregation on the West Coast. She has since stepped down from her pulpit to focus her attention on writing. Her first book was To Begin Again: The Journey Toward Comfort, Strength and Faith in Difficult Times; her second, Talking to God: Personal Prayers for Times of Joy, Sadness, Struggle and Celebration.

As a rabbi, Levy said many people ask her to recite prayers for them. While happy to do so, she stressed that everyone has the power to pray – everyone has the words and the right to pray.

Levy's talent for storytelling was obvious. She had the audience howling when she shared her story about being pregnant.

She searched fruitlessly for prayers to help her through the nausea - "the throwing up, the throwing up ... the throwing up." She noted that, if men gave birth, there would be a "whole volume of Talmud" on pregnancy. In the end, she and her pregnancy classmates wrote their own prayers. During the delivery, Levy gave hers to the obstetrician to read. He looked at it, trembled and left the room, she said, adding, "that's not something you like to see." Upon his return, he explained that he had been overwhelmed by emotion. In 20 years of delivering babies, he told Levy, this was the first time he had found God in it.

But, "you don't have to be delivering babies to be surrounded by miracles," said Levy. "Every day we have choices to be aware." The world is not working against us, but for us, she continued. "We have to start seeing it that way."

The emotional roller-coaster ride didn't end there. After briefly describing her first book, Levy read many passages and prayers from Talking to God. There was an hilarious story about her son's first query about sex, another about when her phone number was accidentally listed on a pornographic website. There was a moving prayer about how we should cherish our bodies – "Thank you, God, for the body You have given me.... When I am critical of my appearance, remind me, God, that I am created in Your holy image.... Guide my every limb, God, to perform acts of compassion and kindness...." And there was a blessing for the Yahrzeit candle that literally brought tears to many women's eyes: "... mixed with all my sadness, there is great joy for having known you. I want to thank you for the time we shared, for the love you gave, for the wisdom you spread."

The prayers Levy writes are about issues and circumstances for which there are no prayers. She praised the siddur (prayer book) but noted the absence of women's voices within it.

She concluded by telling the audience that, by being there that night, they were "involved in an organization that's doing God's work; that every day, it's saving lives and, in a way, it's saving God's life."

She explained, "When there's a poor mother living on the street and she can't get any help and people step over her on the street, you know what she says? She prays to God, 'Help me God.' And still no help comes and nobody comes her way to help her. After awhile, you know what she says to herself, right? 'There is no God. God is dead.' And then, one day, help comes, and it comes in the form of a community that comes together to bring help and empowerment. You know what she says? She says, 'Thank you God.' "

Levy encouraged everyone to find a way to pray in their lives; in their own words, in the words of the Jewish tradition. But, "it's not enough to pray," she said. "If prayer only makes you feel better, that's not enough. The goal of prayer is to turn your dreams, what you know, what you intend to help, into action in your life. So find a way to pray. And may you receive an answer that will bring you joy and peace."

The evening also included the screening of the video Sisters By Choice, featuring women who met through various federation missions and events. Robin Newman opened the proceedings with O Canada and Eve Camerman concluded the night with Hatikvah. The table centrepieces, which were made up of women's toiletries, were given to Jewish Family Service Agency, Jewish Food Bank and ASTEH women's shelters.

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