ACCEPT ME FOR WHAT I AM

Every so often, a new prayer book or High Holiday Machzor makes a debut. As leader of a congregation who replaced a tried and true High Machzor a few years ago, far be it from me to speak out against new texts. What I do take issue with however, is the reason for the change.
Reform, Conservative and Orthodox movements have been known to come out with new Siddurim and Machzorim because they feel that the Siddurim and Machzorim they have been using up until now no longer “speak” to their members. Is it possible that the exact opposite is the case? Perhaps the Siddurim and Machzorim they have been using up until now “speak” to their members loud and clear. It’s just that the members of Reform, Conservative or Orthodox Judaism have suddenly become uncomfortable with the message. And so, the message is rewritten.
Rephrasing a quote that Cesar A. Cruz once made about art, it can be said that “religion should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable”. While I’m no psychologist, I can’t help but feel that the vast majority of those who attend religious services would only agree with the first half of this aphorism. Put differently, the vast majority of congregants or parishioners look to religion as well as religious services along with the texts that are part and parcel of those service to rubber stamp their behavior and lifestyle…. if they look at all. It seems that while it is the G-d given right of those who attend religious services to change the message conveyed by their House of Worship either through clergy or text, it also appears to be true that G-d help the clergy or text that seeks to change those who attend those very same religious services!
When it comes to religion, there is a great irony in today’s society. On the one hand, there are untold numbers throughout our culture who espouse “accept me for who I am”. Yet, when it comes to reciprocity on their parts, particularly when it comes to religion in this country, the notion of accepting the church or synagogue for what it is, seems to suddenly disappear.
Isn’t it strange, that Americans who are conditioned to “telling it like it is” and demand from others to “give it to them straight”, suddenly change the rules when it comes to church or synagogue attendance? Maybe I’ve had it wrong all these years, but I was always under the impression that the very purpose of September 13th through September 23rd of this year is to show that what makes us humans is our ability to change and improve our habits as well as our behavior.
Something to think about these High Holy Days… And beyond.