Shabbat Shalom!
While I am on a mini-sabbatical, my friend, colleague
and partner-in-crime at TBH/CBM, Rabbi Jason Van Leeuwen, is providing
spiritual and religious leadership at the shul. The following is his message
for this week.
Wishing everyone a Shabbat Shalom and a Happy
Independence Day!
Rabbi Richard A. Flom
Temple B'nai Hayim/Congregation
Beth Meier
Blogging at: http://rav-rich.blogspot.com
"From the place where we are
absolutely right, flowers will never grow in the spring."
"מן המקום שבו אנו צודקים לא יצמחו לעולם פרחים באביב"
Yehuda Amichai
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It is a custom, upon entering the synagogue sanctuary, to
utter the words, "ma tovu ohalekha yaakov, mishkenotekha yisrael/how
goodly are your tents O Jacob, your dwellings O Israel." Though this
beautiful line of biblical poetry arose from the mouth of a false prophet in
this week's parasha, we sense a warm familiarity with the spirit of these
words. They evoke the welcoming spirit of our Jewish homes, schools and
synagogues. We envision decades of sukkah gatherings and Passover seders. A
serenity overtakes us. No matter where we are in the world, if we are guests of
a fellow Jew, we are home.
The Midrash describes the tents of Abraham and Sarah as having openings on all four sides, designed so that our founding parents could glimpse in any direction and spot a wayfarer in need of a good meal and a drink. The value of hachnasat orchim/hospitality is deeply embedded in our spiritual DNA. We value this on a national level, too. The Torah calls us no less than 36 times (that number again!) not to oppress the stranger. We are even called to "bring them into your home!"
The Midrash describes the tents of Abraham and Sarah as having openings on all four sides, designed so that our founding parents could glimpse in any direction and spot a wayfarer in need of a good meal and a drink. The value of hachnasat orchim/hospitality is deeply embedded in our spiritual DNA. We value this on a national level, too. The Torah calls us no less than 36 times (that number again!) not to oppress the stranger. We are even called to "bring them into your home!"
Nothing makes me prouder to be a Jew than this.
Nevertheless, today my heart is broken and my rage is kindled over a very different kind of tent - the ones in which migrant families dwell whle involuntarily separated from their children. As I write this, Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar informed Congress that these families will not be reunited unless they agree to deportation, and in some cases, withdraw their asylum claims. 2000 children remain separated from their parents. This state-sponsored extortion is a violation of these families' 5th Amendment right to due process, which extends to undocumented immigrants. It is clearly anathema to Jewish values as well. Emma Lazarus must be rolling in her grave.
It's been difficult for me to pray this week. How can I stand before Hashem when I haven't done nearly enough to, as the prophet Jeremiah exhorts, "seek the well being of the city in which you live?" I won't be in shul this Shabbat. Instead I'll be "praying with my feet" in front of L.A. City Hall at one of over 600 "Families Belong Together" rallies across this nation. It starts at 11, but I will be leading a minyan there at 9:30.
My 2nd favorite quote from Abraham Joshua Heschel (my favorite is quoted in the previous paragraph, which he said after marching with Dr. King) is "prayer is no substitute for action." May the words of our mouths and the prayers of our feet be heard by you, O Lord. May You open the hearts of our leaders so they can model the values of Abraham and Sarah.
How goodly are our tents? The answer is in our hands.
Shabbat Shalom
Reb Jason van Leeuwen
