Dear Fellow Congregants,
I delivered this D’var Torah recently and would like to share it with you. If you wish, you can watch it on the video of the service. The D’var runs about eleven minutes starting at 53:30.
Introduction
Our mystics teach that prior to creation, there was only Ein Sof (אֵין סוֹף), or God without end. Rabbi Nachman of Braslov says:
“God wanted to reveal God’s compassion, and if creation had not taken place, to whom would God have revealed God’s compassion?...Yet, when God wanted to create it, there was no place in which to create it…God therefore contracted…and the Vacated Space was made.”
This contraction is called Tzimtzum (צמצום). The mystics provide a leadership lesson here. We need to make space for others to thrive.
Fast forward to the Book of Exodus when we build the Mishkan, or Tabernacle. God commands Moses:
“Let them make a Mishkan for me and I will dwell among them.”
God decides to reenter the space God had vacated. To live with us. In Genesis, God made space for us. In Exodus, we make space for God.
Big Tent / Brave Space
Our Congregation has had many challenging discussions recently. These include considering a shared facility with Bonai Shalom, changing our COVID policies, and making critical hires. We had spirited debates and after we made a decision, we moved forward together.
That is our culture. At Har HaShem, we strive to have an open tent where we celebrate our diversity of opinions. We also try to create a brave space where we can hear others’ truths even when those truths make us uncomfortable.
Today, the biggest challenge for Har HaShem and Jews everywhere is how to navigate the post October 7th world. I have spoken with many congregants about the war in Gaza, an important part of this world, and have encountered a wide range of opinions. We need to make space for all of them.
I am going to share examples with you. These are just examples; everyone has their unique position. I am changing the names because this is not about individuals. It is about our wide range of opinions.
Avi
“Avi’s” relatives fought in the 1948 War; the birth of Israel. He has relatives who have been called up by the Israel Defense Force, or IDF. He is devastated by what is happening. It is the first thing he thinks about when he wakes up and the last thing on his mind before he goes to sleep. It tears him up that he has a bed while the hostages are abused and sleeping in a hole.
He has seen anti-semitism rise to the forefront. It is hard for him to accept that people do not like him simply because he is Jewish, simply because Jews exist. He’s upset that those who support far right and far left politics agree with each other on this issue. He’s upset that Hamas uses civilians in Gaza as a public relations tool.
Avi supports Israel one hundred percent. He understands that there is a humanitarian crisis but stresses that Israel needs to defend itself for now and the future. As awful as it is, Israel needs to stay the course, while addressing the humanitarian crisis.
He understands that negotiating with Hamas is fruitless and there is no two state solution. Hamas is clear: they want their own state with Israel pushed off into the sea. And that would be the end of our Jewish homeland.
Rahab
“Rahab” is active in Jewish Voice for Peace, an anti-Zionist organization. In high school, when she read about Israeli surveillance technology being used by the US Military in Afghanistan, Rahab started asking forceful questions. Why did Israel track Palestinians’ daily movement? What was the rationale for bulldozing Palestinian homes? How was that in line with tikkun olam? Her teachers and rabbis shushed and ignored her. Her parents and grandparents changed the subject. She thought she had to leave.
Years later she found Jews that organized in solidarity with Palestinians. Rahab has linked arms with fellow Jews to block Senators’ offices while singing lo yisa goy el goy cherev. She is showing up for numerous forums in defense of Palestinians, including a vigil which held space for the martyred children in Gaza.
Rahab stands for an immediate and permanent cease fire, the end of what she sees as Israel’s apartheid and occupation, and the right of return for all Palestinian refugees.
Rebecca
“Rebecca” fully recognizes the horrors of Hamas and affirms that Israel has the right and duty to protect its people. She despairs that Hamas does not even allow civilians to shelter in its many miles of tunnels.
However, she fears that Israel’s reaction was far too brutal and blunt, and will be counterproductive in many ways. She holds Israel accountable for the lack of aid reaching those in need, which is causing catastrophic starvation and disease. In addition to a moral crisis, she sees Israel’s attacks creating a pipeline of new terrorists. She does not see a military solution to Hamas. She supports the troops but not the mission their government has set for them.
Conclusion
Sadly, across the spectrum, people are wary of being ostracized if they speak out. We need to dispel that notion. We need to draw on each other’s strength. To do so we must assume good intentions and remember we are in community together.
I see Har HaShem as our Mishkan, where God dwells among us. The book of Exodus ends with these words:
"Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the Mishkan…
"Throughout all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the Mishkan, the people of Israel would set out. But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out till the day that it was taken up. For the cloud of the Lord was on the Mishkan by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the House of Israel throughout all their journeys."
That is a very comforting image: God as shade from the desert sun during the day and as a warming campfire at night. We do not have a God-Cloud to lead us on our journeys. We do have each other and each of us is made in the image of God. Let’s take advantage of that.
Sylvia
One last thing. Tonight is my mother’s Yartzeit. Sylvia Edelman was a source of peace, with a calming presence.
That was critically important when my dad and my brother stopped speaking to each other during the Vietnam War. My dad had fought the Nazis in Italy during World War II. My brother was a leader of the SDS, a militant anti-war group. They did not speak to each other, but they did talk to my mom. She kept the lines of communication open which helped them to reconcile.
These days, it is especially important to me that I find my inner Sylvia. I invite all of you to do the same.
b’Shalom,
Jim Edelman
