Here is the D'var Torah I delivered on August 23rd, Parshat Re'eh:
Choose Blessing
I don’t want to read the news anymore.
I know that I have to – that I need to; that NOT ONLY is it good to be an informed citizen of this
city, this country, and beyond … but also that my success as a rabbi depends in
large part on my awareness of what’s going on in the world.
But I DON’T WANT to read the news anymore.
It’s too hard. It’s too depressing.
Every day it’s something else … and if it’s not an assault on
my psyche of negativity, oppression, torture, and war from the MEDIA … well,
then it’s the exact same thing on Facebook and Twitter … from people I actually
know.
Even reading what they share is hard.
I don’t want to read the news anymore because even when I
remind myself that these horrible things going on in the world are exaggerated
… even when I tell myself they’ve been blown out of proportion … well, I still
know that there are horrible things going on … in the world, and even in this
city.
(pause)
I started working as a rabbi here at Temple De Hirsch Sinai
on July 1st and these past eight weeks … it has been really difficult to be a Jew. Al achat kama v’chama … how much the
more so a rabbi!
The week we moved to Seattle the three Israeli boys were
kidnapped near Hebron. The global Jewish community went bezerk – and with good
reason – calling upon the Israeli government to find the boys and bring those
responsible to justice.
Then a Palestinian teenager was brutally murdered by Israelis
as a retaliation measure … and suddenly we all took a step back … and thought
to ourselves, “wait, is this what we’ve
come to? Is this now who we are?”
Only a short while later, Israel launched Operation
Protective Edge … which, as we all know,
is still going on.
And for the past eight weeks it seems anti-Semitism has once
again reared its ugly, irrepressible head. Protests and riots across Europe and
elsewhere … tumult and violence have shown their faces not only abroad but in
our own city of Seattle, too.
We read every day about things … horrible things … happening
to innocent men, women and children. Not only Jewish … but Iraqi, Syrian,
Christian, Muslim, gay, straight, searching and stable, young and old, rich and
poor.
No one is immune.
And so, you see, this is why I don’t want to read the news. Because it would be so much easier to bury
my head in the sand and tune it all out.
(pause)
From a young age we teach our children that the Jews are the
chosen people; that we were selected by God from among all the peoples of the
earth and held to a higher standard.
There is a midrash
that teaches that the reason we Jews are God’s chosen people is because neither
party could do any better. The midrash
goes something like this: when the Israelites are wandering in the desert, God
is searching for a people to accept the Torah. Each of the nations of the world
is asked if they will accept the Torah, and each and every one says no … because
its teachings – no murder, no adultery, no bacon, etc., - go against the tenets
of their own societies.
And so, the rabbis teach, God comes to the people of Israel
LAST, this tattered and desperate people wandering aimlessly through the
desert. God holds Mount Sinai above their heads and cries out, “will you accept
the teachings of the Torah or be buried by this mountain?” The people of
Israel, realizing they have no choice if they wish to live, instantly respond:
“it is a tree of life to those who hold her fast.”
(pause)
This slightly absurd midrash
has always highlighted for me the inherent tension of being Jewish and being a citizen of a multi-faith
world. In many ways our Torah teaches that to be a Chosen Person is to be
elevated above all others … and yet, we know that we are not alone in this
world … and our collective success as a people depends in large part upon how
we engage with those who are not a part of our Tribe.
It’s hard. At times it’s theologically and emotionally
exhausting.
And yet … I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.
(pause)
Being Jewish is about so much more than this; it’s so much
more than the pain and the agony, the heart-wrenching anti-Semitism and the
violence we see. It’s about so much more than anti-Israel protests and the BDS
movement. It’s about more than “us” vs. “them.”
We Jews have so much more going for us than what the news
reminds us of every day.
(pause)
In parshat Re’eh this
week, Moses says: see, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse. The
blessing will come when you follow God’s commandments and the curse will surely
come if you choose the way of other gods. As you enter this land that you do
not know … choose blessing. Choose life.
Following the teachings of our faith is NOT easy. Even the
rabbis knew this; they assert through their tongue-in-cheek midrash that no other nation in the
world would be crazy enough to take on this burden; the burden of our sefer Torah.
And yet … (pause) and yet …
The richness of Judaism … the beauty of community … the
language of our sacred prayers … the melodies of our songs … the feeling
(pause) of studying Torah together … the blessing of knowing our shared story,
of sharing our triumphs and challenges…
Makes all of this worth
it.
It reminds us that there is so much to be proud of. So much
to love. So much to gain.
(pause)
It makes getting up in the morning, coming to work, and
touching the lives of those within this congregation … all worth it.
(pause)
Nobody said it was
easy … no one ever said it would be this hard. Oh, take me back to the start … sings
the band Coldplay.
In about one month, we get to go back to the start when the sun
finally rises on the new Jewish year.
May it be for all of us a chance to reconnect with ourselves
and with our community.
May it be a reminder of the richness, the depth, and the
beauty of this extraordinary religion.
And may it help us rise above the negativity, the pain and
the uncertainty, the violence and the fighting.
May it be a new day for all of us … Kein Yehi Ratzon.
Shabbat Shalom.
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