A lot happens in this parashat hashavua, from great fear to exulting celebration; running from Pharaoh and certain death turns to dancing with joy, and then, from the sublime to the ridiculous, becomes complaining about the food.
So, too, with our own lives. Epic moments mix with the mundane. Water the plants. Endure the news. Celebrate a birthday. Go grocery shopping; complain that there are no eggs. As if eggs were the problem…
We are less than three weeks into the second Trump Administration and some of us are already feeling completely overwhelmed. The flood of criminal activity and destruction of civic norms brings with it a sense of chaos and encroaching, inevitable evil. We feel that we must do something – anything!
But that won’t be good enough. Chaos is not effectively answered with chaos. This is a time for careful, critical thinking. Unlike the Hollywood movies with the deus ex machina-style happy ending, where miracles can happen and somebody is revealed to be Superman, this is real life. We are real people with limited power. Indiscriminately throwing ourselves at the problem will only destroy us, and the problem will remain. And while someone among us may well be Moshe Rabbenu, we’ll only know that in retrospect, and anyway we’ll argue with that person most of the time.
In real, human, Jewish terms, we do have options and we do have means, and our first step is to identify them. Just like Archimedes’ fulcrum, we Jews have mitzvot, and they have to be carefully deployed in order to be effective. What are the gifts of our hands? What are we able to do? Let’s take inventory.
Our second step is an inner, spiritual inventory: it is to discern what each of us is able, and willing, to do. Barukh HaShem, thank G!d, we are a community, and as such we can pool our mitzvot efforts so that none of us need feel limited by what we ourselves are capable of doing.
The third step is to act upon what we are able to do. In order to do this effectively, we have to learn from our parashah’s story of the attack of Amalek, the symbol of evil throughout Jewish history. Our narrative records that during the battle of the Amalekites against the Israelites, Moshe stood on a nearby mountain where he could see what was happening. As long as he was able to hold the mateh haElohim, “G!d’s staff” aloft, the Israelites prevailed, and as he tired and lowered his hands, the Amalekites prevailed. What to do?
וִידֵ֤י מֹשֶׁה֙ כְּבֵדִ֔ים וַיִּקְחוּ־אֶ֛בֶן וַיָּשִׂ֥ימוּ תַחְתָּ֖יו וַיֵּ֣שֶׁב עָלֶ֑יהָ וְאַהֲרֹ֨ן וְח֜וּר תָּֽמְכ֣וּ בְיָדָ֗יו מִזֶּ֤ה אֶחָד֙ וּמִזֶּ֣ה אֶחָ֔ד וַיְהִ֥י יָדָ֛יו אֱמוּנָ֖ה עַד־בֹּ֥א הַשָּֽׁמֶשׁ׃
But Moses’ hands grew heavy; so they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur, one on each side, supported his hands; thus his hands remained steady until the sun set. (Ex. 17.12)
An important teaching here is that none of us is going to survive these days alone. The other is that unless we trust each other to help each other hold up our hands, evil will prevail over us.
I ask you to consider three traditional teachings as we begin to organize:
שְׁמַעְיָה אוֹמֵר, אֱהֹב אֶת הַמְּלָאכָה, וּשְׂנָא אֶת הָרַבָּנוּת, וְאַל תִּתְוַדַּע לָרָשׁוּת
Shemayah says, “Love work, hate authoritarianism, and do not trust government.” – Pirke Avot 1.10
- We live in a surveillance state. We will not be holding meetings to talk about what we might be able to do on line or by email, but only in safe ways. If you believe you will want to be involved in coordinated activity, you must communicate that through word of mouth and by downloading the phone app Signal. Show up in person to already scheduled gatherings, and be patient as word gets around the old-fashioned way.
When Rabbi Zusha was on his deathbed, his students found him in uncontrollable tears. They tried to comfort him by telling him that he was almost as wise as Moses and as kind as Abraham, so he was sure to be judged positively in Heaven. He replied, “When I pass from this world and appear before the Heavenly Tribunal, they won’t ask me, ‘Zusha, why weren’t you as wise as Moses or as kind as Abraham,’ rather, they will ask me, ‘Zusha, why weren’t you Zusha?’ Why didn’t I fulfill my potential, why didn’t I follow the path that could have been mine.” – Tzaddikim list
- Each of us must find our strength and our grounding within ourselves so that we can each carry our share of the weight. We must carefully discern what we are personally capable of doing, not in a defeatist way but in a realistic way. You must judge what weight you can carry, and it is unwise and destructive to refuse this.
One had been wandering about in a forest for several days, not knowing which was the right way out. Suddenly they saw another approaching. Their heart leaped with joy.”Now I shall certainly find out which is the right way!” When they neared each other they asked “please, tell me which is the right way. I have been wandering about lost in this forest for several days.” Said the other, “But I do not know the way out either. I too have been wandering about here for many, many days. This I can tell you: do not take the way that I have been taking, for that will lead you astray. And now, let us look for a new way out together.” – Reb Hayim of Tzanz, retold in Shai Agnon, Days of Awe
- We will only be able to act if we can trust each other. Building meaningful community has never been more of an imperative for survival. Start by getting to know the Shir Tikvah members closest to you better. Together we must trust that we’ll grow our unique Jewish response to the darkness surrounding us, in ways that are sustainable, and not necessarily noticeable.
Torah for the 21st Century by Rabbi Ariel Stone 