**
NEW ADDITION **
RABBI'S SERMONS
March
5, 2010
Shabbat
Shalom!
As a member of the UNH Chaplains group, I heard a presentation
this week on efforts to coordinate services for victims/survivors
of domestic violence in the Seacoast. The presenter included
in her remarks a chart featuring the “hierarchy
of needs” developed by Abraham Maslow, which puts
the need for food and shelter on the bottom, followed
by security, love/belonging, esteem/self-respect, purpose/meaning,
and (at the highest level) self-actualization/hope. In
light of the Torah reading for this week, Ki Tisa, which
recounts the “Golden Calf” episode, I thought
about the Israelites and what drove them to ask Moses’
brother Aaron to fashion for them a visible statue of
a god. In our discussion at the Board meeting on the portion,
we noted that the Israelites were acting out of fear and
a need to feel protected, security that Moses could not
provide while he was atop Mount Sinai. The God in whom
the Israelites were putting their faith was intangible
and unseen, while the calf that they made was tangible
and readily available to the eye, giving them a (likely
false) sense of safety. One commentator notes that, had
the people only given themselves over “intellectually”
to another belief, it might have been possible to convince
them to end their worship of the calf. Yet, as Moses was
atop the mountain, the “sound of song” was
making its way to his ears. The people had developed an
emotional attachment to this newly-formed representation
of a god, one that would not easily be relinquished.
It
has likely been difficult in recent months for many Americans,
as well as many people around the globe, to move above
the bottom two levels, often due to uncertainty and fear
of what may come next in the societal and economic challenges
we face. In some cases, that fear leads people to join
with others in groups that are based primarily on fear
rather than on meaning and hope. The hierarchy of needs
is often shown as a pyramid, but it could just as well
be a depicted as a mountain, where the summit is not unlike
the vision we might have of Moses on Mount Sinai, in a
personal encounter with the divine. Atop that pyramid,
or hierarchy, or mountain, we may find not only meaning
and purpose but also the essence of our spirit and hope
that will take us through the challenges that may come
our way. Our faith in the intangible aspects of life,
those that are higher in the “hierarchy,”
still have the power to lead us through difficult times.
