Our essence and strength as K’lal Yisrael, the Community of Israel, is in the collective— it is where we shine, where we are elevated. And when we, in the words of our Torah portion Nitzavim, “Choose life, so that you and your descendants may live…” we choose to be linked together through actively engaging in our history and traditions. This afternoon, at the first of our four yearly Yiskor Memorial services (the three others with the conclusion of Sukkot, Pesach and Shavuot) we will connect in multiple ways—with our shared past and in individually recalling the loved ones who have so impacted our lives. Those connecting with parents will share the mitzvah of honoring and revering mothers and fathers who are remembered with gratitude and love. Though lost in personal thoughts, the energy of one large, cohesive community remembering en masse will ensure that no one is left to remember alone… In our ongoing obligation to repair the world through Tikkun Olam we have, in myriad ways, collectively connected to the needy, the disadvantaged and the beleaguered —though often anonymously—as with our Feed the Hungry Bags and the dollars contributed to the United Jewish Federation that help support Jews in more than sixty countries worldwide. We now have an incredible opportunity of connecting personally to ten Darfurian and South Sudanese, recently settled in Castle Shannon. We have championed their plight for nearly four years, ever since we were urged to take action here at Temple by Rabbi David Saperstein, Director of our reform movement’s Religious Action Center in Washington DC, named by “Newsweek” as the most influential rabbi in the country. Since 2004 until the present, with violence threatening to escalate once again, these people, who continue to need our active involvement, have witnessed the horrific damage and decimation of 3300 of their villages. … We need also to be mindful of those within this family who need our support. Whether or not your children or grandchildren are currently enrolled in our schools or participating in our youth groups we should be connecting to those children who are—they do, after all, represent our future. A gift, in any amount, to our Torah Center or Jewish High School to help fund extremely necessary scholarships for some of our young members will be an invaluable investment, one that will help promote that promise and potential of which Rabbi Mahler spoke on Rosh HaShanah.

Holy connections mean treating others as we wish to be treated. A smile on our faces and a smile in our voices will do just that. As phrased by Lord James Matthew Barrie, best known for Peter Pan, “Always be a little kinder than necessary.” And in the words of possibly the greatest basketball coach in history, John Wooden, who not only led UCLA to ten national championships in twelve years, but was the first ever sports figure to receive, along with Mother Teresa, a medal for humanitarian efforts, “It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely help another without helping himself.”

Old cheerleaders never fade away. We get a little older and a little grayer and then we choose to cheer for the teams that are dedicated to making a difference, the teams in which holy connections—K’sharim k’doshim-- are made with one another, and therefore, with God.