July 18, 2013  / 11 Av,  5773

It is impossible to participate meaningfully in a Jewish community that has no boundaries. This is not about inclusion or exclusion; it reflects the reality that any community has boundaries by definition. Boundaries are a statement of who we are and yes, who we are not. Boundaries do not imply that we are better than others, only that we are situated differently. But without boundaries, there is no possibility for transformation.

As we reflect on having completed the three most difficult weeks of the year emotionally, in a time and age when we are counselled to actively pursue ways in which to love each other, and to be accepting of that which challenges our tolerance levels, respectively, I find this thesis of Harold Berman, an author and former Federation Executive Director to be both inspiring and entirely relevant.

Many of us consider the term "boundary" to be a restrictive, if not repressive, notion for non-Orthodox Jews.  In an open-minded, liberal culture, that logic follows, we should celebrate everyone's freedom to be expressive and innovative; discussions about boundaries might make people feel excluded, if not alienated from the community.

I argue that it is just the other way around:  if we cannot establish lines of delineation, and articulate both who we are and who we aren't, what we do and what we don't, then it becomes impossible to understand the terms by which we are included in any religion-minded group.  Moreover, boundaries afford us the triggers through which to embellish our true cause of being.

Each Spring, I speak with my Confirmation students about the importance of upholding personal boundaries, often mentioned in terms of relationships. Taken in that context, boundaries are a simple concept, but they can vary from person to person. Boundaries essentially keep the good stuff on the inside and the bad stuff on the outside. Once you know where your standards are you can communicate these to others and position yourself around people that will not violate your personal boundaries.  The Rabbis of the post-Talmudic age devised an important type of legal boundary in the form of a gezerah, an enactment issued as a guard or preventive measure, from the root "gazar" (to cut; to decide). The term is especially applied to a negative ordinance which, the Rabbis instituted as a guard or a fence ("geder") to a Biblical precept. A gezerah was instituted when occasion demanded, either on account of internal laxity with regard to the laws or because of some external danger that threatened neglect in the observance of Biblical injunctions. An interesting example was the gezerah not to drink the wine of the Cuthites, since that group had a practice of using their wine for sacramental purposes, to which the Rabbis did not want their followers to be indirectly connected.

A more contemporary version of the gezerah might relate to our consumption of words, and how we might avoid abusing them in our anger, satire, and irreverance.  So many people's feelings are hurt when we fail to employ thoughtfulness in our confrontations and our postings.  Whenever we compromise the dignity of another human being, it offends God, for each of us is created in the Divine Image.

These times of openness and indiscretion in our society should not compel us to shy away from staying bound to our boundaries, as individuals and as a community.  Such conceptual lines can only contribute to our walking more confidently, and embracing others more honestly.