October 20th, 2023
5 Cheshvan 5784
The world has felt like a horrible storm, and I’ve longed for a rainbow. This week, we read the story of Noah. When he emerged from the ark, after forty days of weathering a storm and months waiting for the waters to recede and the ground to dry, he saw a rainbow in the sky. God established a covenant with Noah - the first human that God connects to in this particular way - and the rainbow is the sign.
The Torah says:
אֶת-קַשְׁתִּי, נָתַתִּי בֶּעָנָן; וְהָיְתָה לְאוֹת בְּרִית, בֵּינִי וּבֵין הָאָרֶץ.
I set My bow in the cloud, and it will be a token of a covenant between Me and the earth. (Bereshit 9:13)
Hillel Zeitlin, a 20th century Jewish philosopher who died in the Shoah, wrote that in a scary world, the rainbow symbolized peace, unity, and the continued existence of the world. He wrote, “It is because the rainbow is composed of a number of colors, shades and hues, and all of these unite in a single whole. The same is true with the differences between people, groups, and nations. A life based on mutual understanding and tolerance, on harmony and peace, is the basis for the existence of the world.” He writes that God’s promise of the continuation of humanity and the world is directly connected to a sense of unity, a sense of coming together of all people.
I’ve tried to imagine what Noah felt in those moments - probably tremendous loneliness and fear about the future. He emerged from that Ark with only his family, and so while he wasn’t with many other people, the rainbow symbolized, as the world was starting over again, what would be meaningful and important in difficult times. The rainbow represented the need for people to come together - all kinds of people - even among tremendous differences.
In the last two weeks, this is one of the primary sentiments that I have heard people find meaning from and longing for. For so many of us, we have just needed to be with others who get it, who get us, who understand our pain. A strong pull towards our people - whatever that means to you - reminds us that we’re not alone in a scary world, and it reminds us of our vitality even at a time when there are those that want to hurt us. (If you’d like to just be in connection with others for a check-in, please join us on Zoom today at 11am here.)
The Jewish community has experienced an precedented sense of unity the past two weeks, because I think there’s an understanding not only that we need each other for comfort, but that we need togetherness, above difference, to move forward, to move toward peace.
And more than that, I think many of us have found incredible meaning when others - outside of the Jewish community - have reached out to us, essentially to say, I’m in this with you. I witness your pain. This, too, is an embodiment of the rainbow. These expressions remind us that we are not alone. (You can see our Facebook post and add your own stories in the comments.)
The comfort and connection that we gain from these moments, both with those that are in our community and those outside of it, are not just expressions of consolation. They are a salve to the wounds of the soul of our nation. It is the togetherness and unity that will bring healing, it is the connection and community even among the difference that will help us emerge from an unbearably hard time. It is what will, please God, lead us to peace. That is our rainbow.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Sarit
