This past week we remembered the 11 victims of the Tree of Life synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh.
The ADL explains there was a 30% increase in Anti-Semitic acts in the US between 2020 and 2021.
Israel and Lebanon signed an agreement about potential offshore natural gas deposits, but they’re still technically at war with each other.
Israel’s about to go to its 5th election in 2 years, Great Britain has its third prime minister in as many months.
In a week, the UN climate change conference will take place in Egypt and yet all reports suggest leading nations are nowhere near to the requirements for keeping climate change in check.
War rages in Ukraine and Russia tries to steer other East European nations like Moldova to their side.
War rages in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, having left at least half a million dead up to now.
Part of Wuhan, China is on lock down again.
Probably one of the most difficult issues of the day, a former nationals baseball team player is now a legendary athlete for the Philadeplhia Phillies. Goodness!
And to top it all off, this week’s Torah portion, Noah, is about the end of humanity as we know it, and only one small remainder will survive.
And is Noah a great righteous person whose family deserves saving above all others?
Our ancestors are ambivalent about him, when the Torah introduces him as a tzadik, a righteous person in his generation, they say some interpret this as praise – if he lived in an age of righteous people he would be even more righteous than they, but others say he was only righteous compared to everyone else in his generation, and if he had lived in the time of Abraham he would have amounted to nothing.
Let’s put aside the planet for a moment, as George Carlin once said, the Earth, by and large, is a self-correcting system, and it’s been through lots worse than the age of humanity.
Naturally the next question is are we, the people, worth saving?
And the answer of our tradition is yes, we are worth saving – we have to earn it though, we have the opportunity, but we have only our lifetimes, a micro blip of time.
I wish I could offer a course of action grounded in Jewish tradition that can directly point the way for us to renew ourselves, renew humanity, reduce conflict, and beyond, but all I know right now is I’m grateful to be a part of the Shaare Shalom community. Here we can share what we’re struggling with and our fellow community members listen. And the Rabbis teach us “Teach yourself to say, I don’t know”, and so I’m following the teaching, I don’t know the answer, but I do know that knowing there’s a supportive community around us means I don’t feel like I’m facing the challenge alone because ultimately I’m convinced God judges us not on how well we create new technology or whether we’re able to stop a war, God judges us on how well we take care of each other, since, without that community, without the holiness of respect, honor, and kindness, even the longest life is less a blessing and more a burden.
This Shabbat, Purple Shabbat, is an event at the end of Domestic Violence Awareness month, what better a time for us to rededicate ourselves to creating a welcoming, inclusive, and safe community for all of us to try and fulfill to the best of our ability kol yisrael arevim ze bazeh, we are all responsible for one another.
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