Rabbi's Week in Review Blog

The American Jazz Museum held a celebration this past weekend for Charlie Parker’s birthday. (He would have been 102 this week, on August 29.) It was a wonderful night, featuring the best of what jazz has to offer.  

One of the takeaways from the evening: the talented young jazz musicians playing way beyond their years, in both their level of competence and in the passion they brought to the music. The Kansas City New Generations Jam Session, with Morgan Faw on alto sax (most appropriate for a Charlie Parker birthday celebration), blew me away with the creative approach to both Charlie Parker standards and Faw’s own compositions.

All of this is to say, when jazz is at its best, it is truly an intergenerational endeavor. In the Jewish world, we understand the value of building on the generations that came before us.  L’dor va’dor, from generation to generation. We honor our past, the history of our ancestors, upon whose shoulders we stand. At the same time, we understand that our journey as a people is not static.  

We embrace the new — new knowledge, new discoveries and the opportunity to learn from the next person we meet. Much like the jazz musician who respects and honors the creativity of past jazz musicians yet seeks new approaches to the music, we build on our written Torah to seek the Torah yet to be discovered. As we enter the Jewish month of Elul and as we prepare for how we will approach the coming new year of 5783, let this be a time for new discoveries and a better world.