By Rabbi Rick Jacobs
There’s nothing simple about this moment in Jewish history as we endeavor to educate and uplift our Jewish communities that hunger for meaning in the face of rising antisemitism, debilitating polarization, and assaults on our core Jewish teachings especially here in this city and beyond. Many of us wonder if our educators’ toolbox has what we need to meet this moment.
I just returned from spending Shabbat in Jackson Mississippi with our remarkably resilient Beth Israel Congregation and tomorrow I look forward to spending the day with our courageous Reform leaders here in the Twin Cities. So many are on the front lines, including all of you, our treasured Reform Jewish educators.
Last week there was WAR
This week there is JUSTICE
Last week there was DEVASTATION
This week there is REVELATION
Last week there was Amalek
This week there is Yitro
It’s hard to shift gears with such abrupt and profound changes.
Last week we read of the Israelites passage through the Sea of Reeds to the shores of freedom.
At the end of the portion the Israelites encounter Amalek.
Unprovoked, Amalek attacks the Israelites;
our ancestors prevail but are left traumatized.
Amalek becomes the eternal adversary of the Jewish people.
That’s last week.
We leave Amalek in Chapt 17 of Exodus
Only to meet Yitro in Chapt 18.
Yitro is Moses’ father-in-law
He is also a Midianite Priest.
Amalek is vengeful and cruel.
Yitro is wise and loving.
After Pharaoh and then Amalek,
the Israelites might have concluded that non-Israelites were to be feared, even hated.
Right as we are ready to adopt an eternal us vs them stance, in walks Yitro.
In Jackson Mississippi an act of antisemitic hate consumed so many sacred books and caused extensive damage to our beloved Reform congregation that was founded in the midst of the Civil War and stood tall during the civil rights movement. In the sixties their rabbi supported many freedom riders and stood with the dozens of black churches that were firebombed – even as their own congregation was also firebombed. Hiding their Jewishness is not in their DNA, not then, not now.
Yes, there’s an epidemic of hate, but we will not hide or fade into the darkness, we will stand strong and proud; and we will continue to respond to our prophetic imperative to build and nurture communities of belonging and hope.
Last Friday night I joined our congregation in Jackson for their Shabbat service which was held at the Northminster Baptist Church that has opened their hearts and building to our small but mighty Reform synagogue. Seems the spirit of Yitro is alive and well in this complicated moment. Who says we have no interfaith allies? Those relationships are built over decades not weeks.
How do we navigate this moment so that we can help our learning communities find their way. No doubt this exceptional Hevreh of educators that we call ARJE is helping us retool for this intense and demanding moment.
Last Saturday morning we gathered at URJ Jacobs Camp in Utica Mississippi so that the wider Southern Reform community could support and care for the leaders and members of Beth Israel. As part of the Shabbat Shira service a group of students from Beth Israel offered a prayer in that special place that has been a sacred home for them. These resilient teens have been nourished by their religious school education and from their summers at Jacobs Camp.
So much of my Jewish rootedness came from my summers at our URJ camps in Northern California where we prayed in the midst of Redwood trees that reached for the heavens. Though you’ve heard dozens of Tu B’Shvat teachings by now, I must share a word about those giant Redwood trees that can grow to be hundreds of feet tall and live for hundreds if not thousands of years.
But most remarkable is the fact that their roots are very shallow. The only way these majestic trees can stand tall is by interlocking their roots with those of their neighboring trees. They grow tall by staying close and supporting their neighbors. That sure sounds like Torah for us in this moment!
Yes, we need more deeply rooted communities of Jewish learning and commitment and the way we can all stand tall is by interconnecting our roots, so we steady one another in destabilizing times.
A young student in the Beth Israel religious school who is also a camper at Jacobs Camp inspired a sticker we gave out last Shabbat. It says:
“Be more Jewish than ever.”
COVID, obsessive screen use, stunted social growth continue to challenge our youth but YOU are all key to their well-being as they live lives of Jewish commitment and purpose.
Our Reform siblings in the deep south are doing something very right and I’m certain that each of you and all of us together can plant those same seeds of love, commitment and wisdom.
You, our beloved educators, are doing extraordinarily holy work guiding the many souls of our Movement to find their way with heads and hearts filled with Jewish values and practices that will allow them to live proud Jewish lives of blessing.
As Dan Nichols offered the concluding bracha for our Jackson and Jacobs family last Shabbat,
let me conclude with his words:
“There is a power in this place and time,
it shapes the rest of our lives,
Be strong and let us strengthen one another.
Cha-zak, cha-zak, ve-nit cha-zeik.”