לֹא עָלֶיךָ הַמְּלָאכָה לִגְמֹר, וְלֹא אַתָּה בֶן חוֹרִין לִבָּטֵל מִמֶּנָּה
It is not your duty to finish the work, but neither are you at liberty to neglect it
(Pirkei Avot 2:16).
As an eager and precocious seventh grade Hebrew school student, I had a special opportunity to study Pirkei Avot with my beloved childhood rabbi, Raphael Asher. Rabbi Asher has a magical way of teaching that makes any text accessible for learners of every age. He introduced to us Pirkei Avot, the ethics of our ancestors, allowing us twelve and thirteen year olds to, for the first time, engage in rich and meaningful conversations around our ethical responsibilities as Jews. And rather than making this sound entirely overwhelming, he framed the conversation around the above text, reminding us that we indeed have a great obligation to learn the wisdom of our tradition and to make the world a better place, but we were in no way responsible for doing all of it and we certainly didn’t have to go it alone.
I am so lucky to still have a wonderful relationship with Rabbi Asher and with many members of my home congregation and my b’nai mitzvah class. When we surround ourselves with community, we experience the truth of Pirkei Avot’s wisdom; as Jews, we have special obligations to make the world a better place and we never have to do the work or carry any burden alone.
My dear friend, Cantor Natalie Young, will join us this weekend as our artist-in-residence on Friday at 6:15pm and Saturday evening at 6:30pm, respectively. She has contributed so much artistry to our Jewish liturgical canon, and we can’t harmonize without you. I hope that you will join us for one or both of these special evenings of meaningful prayer, music, and excellent company.
Listen to Natalie’s version of the Pirkei Avot text “Lo Alecha” here.
See you this weekend!
–Cantor Emma Lutz