We're in the holiest of the holiest times of the Jewish year, what's called "The Days of Awe" which climax with The Day of Atonement. During the Days of Awe, for some of the Jews, this is so serious that it's the only time of the year that they will attend synagogue, like those Christians who attend church on Christmas and Easter.
WHY SO SERIOUS?
What's drawing them to their synagogues is the seriousness of the Days of Awe. According to Dennis Prager, the rabbis' sermons on these days are their most important of the year, so important that they begin preparing for them months in advance.
Prager says, "One of the themes of these High Holy Days is an 'accounting of the soul. Jews ask themselves: What type of person have I been this past year, and how can I be a better person next year? That is why the days between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur are known as "The Ten Days of Repentance." Some variation on this subject is what rabbis have most often talked about for as long as they have given these sermons.
According to their belief, depending on the outcome of their deeds during the year and the outcome of the Ten Days of Repentance, their names will either remain in the Book of Life or be removed therefrom. Prager points out that "their liturgy repeats and repeats one overwhelming theme: On this day, God judges humanity -- yes, every single human being."
Serious to the max, that's what those days are for them. Therefore, the rabbis need to get serious too; according to their theology, they're dealing with life and death matters. The rabbis should have no difficulty preparing their sermons for these days. "So, what will they talk about?" Prager asks.
SAY WHAT?
Outside of the Orthodox synagogues, the Conservative and Reform Jewish congregants will hear their rabbis speak of global warming, racism, sexism, transgender issues, immigration, dreamers, food insecurity, single-payer health insurance and the like.
They will hear sermons against the President of the United States whose election they consider a national sin. Prager, a member of a Jewish congregation, reports that many of the Jews ritually fasted and mourned ("sitting shiva") at Trump's election, as they would have done if a family member had died.
In other words, what they're hearing in their synagogues is what they would hear on the evening news, by reading "The New York Times," tuning into the Academy or Emmy Award shows, or taking classes at a university. No need to attend a synagogue service to hear that. So their buildings are being left deserted by degrees as attendance declines.
You say that those aren't "religious" issues. Yes, they are to them, because they are progressives and to progressives global warming, racism, sexism, transgender issues, immigration, dreamers, food insecurity, single-payer health insurance is their religion.
NO MONOPOLY
Our Jewish friends have no monopoly on such nonsense. One "church"listed two of their recent sermon titles as: "My Summer with Mr. Rogers," "Ubuntu (not a typo), and "What I learned from Selma 50 Years Later." At another church, the topic was "Be a Better You."
Recently, I read the doctrinal statement of one church which was so generic that a Protestant, a Roman Catholic, a Calvinist, an Armenian, a Baptist, a Methodist, and a Presbyterian could easily agree with it and be admitted for membership without giving up any of their beliefs. Basically, the church stood solidly for "Whatever you want." Like the old saying goes, "If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything."
As the unbeliever stands under the wrath of God (Jn. 3:18, 36) these are serious times for those serious about the Great Commission, those who seek to reach those that don't know their under-wrath-position which is: "He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who rejects the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
This is no time for fooling around with "What I Learned from Selma," and "Be A Better You."
Get serious.
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