by Rabbi Ron Stern

 

This week on our incredible mountaintop we’ve welcomed children to both Camp Wise and Wise Readers to Leaders. They are children whose parents were born in Iran, Mexico, Israel, Russia, Guatemala, Thailand, Argentina, China and probably a host of other countries.  They’ve been swimming in our pool, playing in the beautiful Katz Family Pavilion, learning to become better readers, singing Hebrew songs, creating art that only their parents could appreciate, and enjoying the experience that only Stephen Wise Temple makes possible for the slice of Los Angeles that is our circle of community.  It’s quite a remarkable expression of the American dream that all of our ancestors were seeking.  At Wise, not only have we found it, but we are eager to share it.

As the celebration of America’s 242nd birthday approaches we need to remind ourselves of the things that contribute to our nation’s character because it’s easy to be deflected from our core values.  When the words from Leviticus 25:10 were inscribed on the famous Liberty Bell, those who commissioned it to be placed above the Pennsylvania State House (now Independence Hall) intended them to ring like the pure sound of the bell in the ears of all Americans.  Interestingly and typically, they were unconcerned with the Biblical context of the phrase and imposed a meaning on them that spoke to the newly established country.  “Proclaim LIBERTY

[sic] throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants therof” is not even an accurate translation of the Hebrew.  Nonetheless that famous bell with its iconic crack became the eternal symbol of a nation that held LIBERTY to be its essential value.

Here’s what we know: for America liberty was always an aspiration if not quite a realization. The bell was forged for a nation that held slaves and had to fight a bitter war to overcome that scourge.  It resounds for a country that only offered woman the right to vote in 1920 and still has not passed the equal rights amendment.  It echoes for a people that only bestowed civil rights on all of its citizens in the 1960s. It vibrates for a region that forced some of its citizens into concentration camps in the 1940s.  It peals for states that experience some of the worst poverty in the developed world—and yet it rings and rings and rings and rings.

The lesson of the Liberty Bell is that we have come so far and yet still have much work to do. It is a symbol out of the past that continues to inspire our future.  Walking around Wise, looking at LA’s children enjoying the bounty our wonderful community offers, I see what can be achieved when we lead with love, act with vision, commit with determination, and fill our hearts with liberty.  It is a beautiful sight!