“Forging A New Path: A Reflection on the Expulsion of
Myers Park Baptist Church From the N.C. Baptist Convention”

Parashat Vayetze 2007/5768
Rabbi Micah Streiffer

Judaism is all about finding and creating community. We operate under the belief that we are better able to be spiritual, better able to approach God, better able to pray and study and do mitzvot with a group than we are alone. That's why traditionally you need a minyan of 10 adults to say certain prayers, and to read Torah. It's why the Rabbis say that the divine presence descends whenever a group of Jews study or pray or eat together.

In fact, community is so integral to who we are as Jews, that Hillel declared in Pirke Avot (the teachings of the Fathers): "Al tifrosh min hatzibbur - Do not separate yourself from the community." It is one of his central teachings, right up there alongside the Golden Rule.

But once in a while, you have to separate yourself - from a place, from a community, from a set of ideas. This week's portion is all about leaving. It is called Vayeitzei, which means "he left." And it tells the story of Jacob leaving Beer Sheva - leaving behind his family, his loving mother, and everything that he had known. Jacob left his community because he was not thriving there. He had angered his brother Esau by stealing the birthright and blessing that rightfully belonged to the elder . And even more important, he needed to go out into the world and forge his own path, independent of his father's teachings, so that he could properly pass God's teachings down to the next generation. It cannot have been easy to leave, but he knew that leaving was the right thing to do.

This week, our friends and colleagues at Myers Park Baptist Church must know how Jacob felt. This church, which is such a good friend to us here at Temple Beth El, was voted out of the North Carolina Baptist State Convention on Tuesday for welcoming gays and lesbians. Actually, it is more accurate to say that Myers Park actively worked to have itself expelled because it disagreed so fundamentally with the convention's new rule, which says that any church that welcomes openly gay people is outside the pale.

By making this bold statement – by separating itself from the community to which it has belonged for more than a half century – Myers Park Baptist asserted that discrimination and exclusion are contrary to what it means to lead a life of faith. We could learn a thing or two about chutzpah from our Baptist friends. They put themselves on the line for what is right. And just as Jacob left to forge a new path, so do we pray that they will find continued success as they bring God into the world by preaching tolerance and understanding.

“Achen yesh Adonai,” Jacob declared as he awoke from his dream - "God is in this place, and I did not know it." God is to be found in the act of standing up for what is right. God is to be found in those who are willing to put aside their long-time connections and relationships in order to assert that all people are deserving of honor, dignity, and respect. God is to be found in recognizing the divine image in every person, regardless of background or beliefs or sexual orientation.

May we see what is Godly about those around us.
May we work to strengthen and build the communities to which we belong.
And every once in a while, may we have the drive, the willingness, and the chutzpah to forge a new path.