Category: Peace

Take Comfort

The Prophet Isaiah Predicts the Return
Maerten van Heemskerck

“Nachamu, Nachamu Ami”- Take comfort, my people.  So begins Isaiah 40, the readings we use for the Shabbat after Tisha B’Av.

Tisha B’Av is a day of deep sorrow, for so many of the catastrophes that have befallen the Jewish people are linked to this day.  We fast and read the book of Lamentations recalling the destruction of the First Temple.

The prophet’s urging to take comfort seems more than for us to be consoled in our time of grief.  It urges us to look beyond our grief.  For we will rise up, continuing life continuing the ongoing work as partners in God’s creation in spite of, or perhaps because of the loss that we encounter.  We will remember, but we are exhorted to move forward both as individuals and as a people.  The world will go on and we must take our place to continue to build.

History has shown that out of the ashes, like a phoenix, we will rise up.  Carrying our memories of what was lost, we will create new memories. As we commemorate the losses marked on Tisha B’Av, we also take tentative but deliberate steps forward out of our grief towards our tradition’s aspirations of a better world that we work to create and we find our comfort through this renewed purpose.

When we rise from Shiva, we are instructed to go outside and walk around the block.  This is symbolic of our reentering the world.  Changed because of our loss, but compelled to move forward honoring the memory of the loved one lost, or in this case, the loss befallen upon our people.  The values we hold dear; caring for the widow and stranger, clothing the naked and feeding the hungry are the cornerstones for the ongoing work of Tikkun Olam and creation that is ever-present.  We must also vote; for voting is our most precious special franchise granted to all who are blessed to live in the United States.  We can leverage our work through elected representatives fighting for us to achieve our vision of a better world.

We rise not only with our voices but with our actions.  For ours is to pray with our feet, as Rabbi Heschel once said.  We can make our country and our world a better and more compassionate place through our actions.  Nachamu, Nachamu Ami.

 

Shabbat Shalom

Idan Raichel brings us Beresheet –  a new song which he wrote during his travels, inspired by several unexpected encounters with people from Africa and India.

The song is accompanied by a beautiful video created by the sand artist Ilana Yahav, who brings her visual interpretation of the song in a sensitive and heartwarming way.

My thanks to Adam Wishkovsky for sharing this piece with me.

Shabbat Shalom!

 

Shabbat Shalom

An extraordinary week.  Welcome Shabbat with this lovely medley of Hatikvah and Avinu Shebashamayim performed by Rabbotai on the occasion of Israel’s 70th anniversary.

Hatikvah Lyrics in English:

As long as within our hearts

The Jewish soul sings,

As long as forward to the East

To Zion, looks the eye –

Our hope is not yet lost,

It is two thousand years old,

To be a free people in our land

The land of Zion and Jerusalem.

Shabbat Shalom on this Shabbat HaGadol

We celebrate the Great Shabbat, which immediately precedes Pesach.  On this day, our children will march, leading us toward a vision of a better safer America. Let us join them to make this dream a reality.

I offer Debbie Friedman’s A Traveler’s Prayer as the song to usher in Shabbat HaGadol.

Shabbat Shalom

 

Shabbat Shalom

I found this lovely rendition of the song Yonati from Central Synagogue recorded December 17, 2017.

A soulful song, Yonati, My dove is a beautiful way to welcome Shabbat.  The English translation is below.

Shabbat Shalom.

Yonati

O, my dove, in the crevice of the rock,
Concealed by the mountain’s face,
Show me your countenance,
Let me hear your voice;
For your voice is pleasant,
And your countenance charming.

Jethro, Ideal Father-in-Law and a man for our times

Jan_van_Bronchorst_-_Jethro_advising_Moses

Last week we read Parshat Yitro. It is filled with extraordinary things particularly the story of the title character Yitro and his interaction with Moses and the Children of Israel.

Yitro joins up with the people of the Exodus in support of their leader, his son-in-law Moses, if not in support of their journey to the Promised Land. I am taken by Jethro’s selflessness and righteousness.   For Jethro isn’t just any father-in-law, he is a priest of the Midianites. Arguably, his allegiance should be with his people, but Jethro never misunderstands that to mean he should undermine Moses.

It would be easy for Jethro to take advantage of the turmoil in B’nei Israel and steer them towards Midian, immigrants likely ready to offer their experience as slave labor in exchange for food, shelter, and security. Instead, he helps Moses organize a system that brings justice and order to the chaos, strengthening the fledgling institutions under Moses. Jethro remains in the background and not proselytizing, although he was likely a far better communicator than Moses. Finally, once Jethro shared all that he could teach Moses, he departed so that the leadership of Moses would not be challenged if people saw the power behind the power.

Jethro did not abuse his power. Indeed, he deftly manipulated his power into support of Moses. As a Midianite Priest, his worldviews and religion were different from the Children of Israel. However, he was respectful of the “other” and helped them flourish on their particular journey.

We can be different. My beliefs do not require a negation of your beliefs. We can co-exist, cooperate and even consider ourselves connected as part of a larger family. Not only a model father-in-law, Jethro is the model leader for civil pluralistic society for today as well.