It seemed to be inevitable, it seemed like it would surely happen, and yet waking up yesterday morning to the news that Russia had invaded Ukraine felt like a dagger. I know that so many of you join me in fear and in pain. I was struck by one individual’s account, starting out by saying that they were doing OK. They reported that they had lots of food in the freezer and canned goods that they’d be stocked for weeks if they needed to be, they had kerosine for the generator should they need it, and they had several weapons with back-up ammunition should the looters come to their home. This was their version of OK.
My eyes widened as I read this, knowing what the reality on the ground is for individuals. For regular families like yours and mine. As the images of people trying to get out of Kiev flooded the news, I thought about the devastating effects of war. And I wondered what it meant to pray for peace - real, wholesome peace. Because the root of the word shalom - peace - connects to completeness. It’s not about one part of the world being OK and another part in shambles. True peace, true completeness, means that the pieces of the puzzle, like countries on a map, fit together with harmony, with respect, and with love.
This week’s parsha begins with the word Vayakhel - a word that connects to ‘kahal’ - community. Moshe gathered the people together in community to prepare for the building of the Mishkan. And when they did so, when they came together with a goal of shleimut, wholeness, they were able to build the Tabernacle, the place for God’s presence to dwell. Commentators compare this to a word with the very same root in last week’s parashah - Vayikahel. The people also assembled as some type of collective, but the word is clearly in a different form. In that context, the people are antsy because Moshe is still on the mountain, and their response is to band together to build the golden calf. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks z”l wrote that “the difference between the two kinds of kehillah is that one results in order, the other in chaos.” One type of coming together is to gang up and create something profane and destructive, and one type of coming together is for holiness, to bring about God’s presence when people work together.
We have seen, this week, just another reminder of what happens when people come together, Vayikahel, to bully, to profane, to antagonize. There is chaos. There is the opposite of holiness, the opposite of shleimut, wholeness. And so we try and do our part to counter the balance. To bring more peace, to bring help, to come together however we can for holiness, Vayakhel.
When we pray for peace, we declare that other humans’ suffering matters to us. When humans across the globe are rattled by war, when their lives are upended by bombs and attacks, it must touch our souls. It must push us to cry out. Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, who is buried in Uman (central Ukraine), deeply believed in true peace, and he taught about its power on a cosmic level. He wrote, “When there is true peace down below, there is peace on high—in God’s heaven above. And when there is peace on high, abundance and mercy fills the world below.” (Likutei Moharan I:39)
May the Holy Blessed One bless and protect the people of Ukraine, and all people in danger.
Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Sarit
I invite you to join me in donating to the Joint Distribution Committee in their efforts specifically targeted to helping the Jewish community in danger in Ukraine. You can find more information and donate at JDC.org/Ukraine.
