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Rabbi's Message

04/22/2022 05:27:00 PM

Apr22

Dear Hevre, 

Chag Sameach and Happy Earth Day!

Today is the 7th day of Pesach, the day which commemorates the miracle of kriat yam suf, the splitting of the Sea of Reeds which allowed the Israelites to escape from Pharaoh and his armies for good. The Israelites were terrified before crossing the Sea because what they saw in front of them (before the miracle) was the Egyptian army behind them and the sea in front of them. 

We learn in the Talmud and Midrash about Nachshon, who courageously jumped into the sea with the Israelites following. [Mechilta, Beshalach 5; Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer 42; Exodus Rabbah 13; Sotah 37a.]

The miracle seems to be as much about the human agency of Nachshon and eventually the Israelites acting with courage as it seems to be that of the Divine (through Moses) causing the sea to make a path. 

Rabbi Jonathan Saks wrote,

“….once [the Israelites] had crossed the Sea, there was no way back. To be sure, they still complained about water and food. But… [t]heir boats were burned. They looked only forwards, for there was no return.”[https://www.yeshiva.co/midrash/43915]

I find it powerful to think about the fact that even though the Israelites nostalgically thought about Egypt when they were lacking food and water, they couldn’t actually return. They were on the other side and were slowly moving toward freedom, toward receiving Torah and toward the Promised Land. 

Sometimes we don’t always recognize how far we’ve come from Mizrayim, from the narrow places in our lives because the voices still coax us to return to Egypt in our minds. But when we have actually taken courageous leaps forward, we cannot return to exactly where we were. We are moving forward – even if it doesn’t always feel that way. 

On this seventh day of Passover, let us pause and remember the ways we have courageously taken steps forward in our lives and appreciate the doors that were closed because of those steps, as well as the freedom of the (sometimes uncertain) road ahead. 

This evening we will meet in person at 7:00 pm sharp for a half hour service with the Little Shul by the River Band followed by Michael Tabachnick’s Bagel U program on “Genesis and the Big Bang.” If you can’t make it in person, the Zoom link for which you must register is: 

CLICK HERE

Tomorrow morning at 9:00 am we will have Yizkor services in person and on Zoom at: 

CLICK HERE

At 10:00 am tomorrow morning in person and on Zoom, we will have Contemplative Shabbat. The Zoom link is: 

CLICK HERE

I look forward to seeing you soon! 

Shabbat shalom, 

Rabbi Diana

Fri, March 29 2024 19 Adar II 5784