Rabbi Diana's Weekly Message

Dear Chevre,

The Talmud explains that each Jewish community must establish a public fund to provide food for the hungry, and our sages explain that feeding the hungry is one of our most important responsibilities on earth: “When you are asked in the world to come, ‘What was your work?’ and you answer: ‘I fed the hungry,’ you will be told: ‘This is the gate of the Lord, enter into it, you who have fed the hungry’” (Midrash to Psalm 118:17). [https://rac.org/hunger-introduction-jewish-values]

I am pleased to let you know our KHN community raised over $2,200 for the Federation of Greater Philadelphia High Holiday Food Drive, providing food-insecure Jews with gift cards to grocery stores. Thank you to Julie Parker and Regina Bost for organizing it.

In this week’s Torah portion, we read Noach ish tzadik tamim haya b’dorotav, Noah was a man who was wholly righteous in his generation. A midrash is curious about the word haya [was] and says that anybody whom the text uses the word ‘haya/was’ ra’ah olam chadash, saw or perceived a new world. This person must have gone through an amazing transformation, having lived in one kind of world and now in an entirely new one.

With Noah, he once was in a world of greed, corruption, violence and hatred, and he entered into and helped to create a new world order. The midrash cites another opinion of what haya means , that anybody whom the text uses the word ‘haya/was’ zan u’l’farnes la’acherim fed, sustained, nourished and took care of the basic welfare of others.

Rabbi Steven Exler asks, What does haya indicate that it should mean a person was a sustainer, nourisher? Perhaps someone who leaves an enduring, impactful legacy. Providing food and the basic needs for others to survive ensures this. We can know that when we are no longer, we really were, because we leave a legacy of ensuring the welfare, safety, health and chance at life for others. [These are teachings I learned initially from Rabbi Dev Noily on a retreat and mostly from Rabbi Steven Exler of the Bayit from a drash on Parashat Noah 5781]

I know that many of us have given to Fisherman’s Mark after the recent floods, and other people and organizations serving those who are suffering in our area. We continue, as a Jewish community to place a value on the ethics of reaching out to others, seeing what needs exist, and doing what we can to help. This weekend Lambertville Helping Hands is holding a benefit whose proceeds will go directly to individuals and businesses impacted by Hurricane Ida. Even if you cannot attend, please consider giving to the cause if you are able.

https://www.facebook.com/events/1340284209725122/?acontext=%7B%22event_action_history%22%3A[%7B%22mechanism%22%3A%22search_results%22%2C%22surface%22%3A%22search%22%7D]%2C%22ref_notif_type%22%3Anull%7D

As we know from the Centenary Food Kitchen, it’s not a top-down endeavor, but it’s about building relationships and understanding systems that need fixing.

While we see so much violence and corruption and ignorance and hatred all around us, we  know that we’d like to be part of the builders of an ‘olam chadash’, a new world, with justice, compassion and kindness at its center.

In the meantime, we will continue to feed the hungry as long as there are hungry to feed. I hope that we can find ways to be part of the mission to eradicate hunger at its core.

Wishing everybody a Shabbat shalom,

Rabbi Diana