This past week has been one of the most challenging ones in recent history for the Jewish community. We’ve felt grief, fear, pain, sadness, and anger. The pain of what happened at Tree of Life in Pittsburgh has pushed many of us to wonder what this means to live as Jews in America.
Tomorrow in shul we will read Parashat Chayei Sarah, in which we hear the news of Sarah’s death. Abraham mourns her loss and buys a burial place for her, laying her to rest. But the rest of the parashah is dedicated to Abraham’s quest for a wife for his son Isaac, and there is an almost excited tone in the text as we readers meet Rebecca and learn about their relationship. And later in the parashah, Abraham is praised for his unwavering faith.
I’ve often wondered how Abraham could’ve immediately moved from this place of grief to celebration, how he was able to keep that steadfast faithfulness. And especially this week, I wonder: how do we not let this break us? How do ever celebrate again? How do we keep that sense of faith? Abraham teaches us this week that the way to be Jewish is to not let pain and grief and fear overshadow a commitment to our faith. This is the Torah I feel deep in my bones today.
The 11 holy souls that were murdered at Tree of Life were Jews who loved going to shul. They embraced their Jewish identities and they were the ones who got to shul early to make sure there was a minyan for Kaddish, they were the ones who got there to make sure they could greet others. We honor their memories by emphasizing some of the values they stood for. We honor their memories by showing up in shul, by greeting others when they walk into the building with a smile. We ensure their memories are indeed for a blessing when we embrace our yiddishkeit, our Judaism, and when we live it out with pride, like they did.
This Shabbat, and upcoming Shabbatot as well, I hope you will see how you yourself can be a part of turning their memories into a blessing. This evening, Temple Israel is hosting CommUnity Shabbat services at 6PM and I encourage you attend. Tomorrow morning, as always, we’ll have Shabbat morning services at 9:15AM, and I hope you will be a part of our service.
Unfortunately, I am out of town for Shabbat, and I am pained to not be with my community on this Shabbat after the Pittsburgh shooting. But on Sunday, my first cousin Noam will get married, and the extended family is gathering in Berkeley, California, for Shabbat together. I’ve been thinking this week about the wedding, and how it feels almost like a betrayal of my grief to celebrate such a simcha. Noam will break a glass at the end of the chuppah, and I’ve often understood that shattering to be about the brokenness of the world. We invoke the brokenness in that moment because we can’t ignore it, but also because we believe that it is precisely the love of a couple, really the love that any people have for each other, the embrace of living life to the fullest, that will someday, God willing, eradicate brokenness.
On Sunday, that glass breaking will mean something different to me. But so will the ‘Mazal Tov’ that we’ll scream afterwards, because we must choose life. We must choose celebration, we must choose love, and we must choose living our Judaism with pride.
