Dear {{first_name}},
We’ve been told since we were in kindergarten that words matter. Yes, as children we learn a false expression: sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me. This expression is something we’ve learned to say because we want to diminish the impact felt by hurtful words, but the reality is that simply saying something isn’t hurtful doesn’t make it true. Words, in fact, do hurt and they hurt badly. As a rabbi, I’m very familiar with the impact of words. I’m familiar with how great positive words can make us feel and how negative words can bring us down. I hear your joy and your pain when you speak to me. As a teacher in the classroom, I’ve seen students make others feel loved or vilified just with their words. This is all because it’s clear as day words matter.
As we close out the book of בראשית/Genesis, we not only reflect on the legacy of our patriarchs and matriarchs, but we also learn many lessons. A great lesson of importance is words matter when we swear to another person we’ll do something and then must uphold those words.
Jacob, on his death bed, made his son, Joseph, swear he would bury him in the Land of Canaan/Israel. After his death, the sons fulfilled this sacred vow by bringing Jacob back to Machpelah and burying him there with Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebecca and Leah. That oath mattered, and when Joseph was on his deathbed, he likewise made those around him swear they would bring him from Egypt when they left. Over 400 years would pass before we left Egypt following our enslavement, and yet on the night we left, Moses went and found the remains of Joseph and left Egypt with them. Words matter.
In the Talmud, we find the importance of words time and again as well. One of the most telling instances is that one of the punishments for certain crimes was the requirement to take an oath. The rabbis of the Talmud were scared to make people take oaths because words matter. We learn about this every year on Yom Kippur when we begin the observance by reciting Kal Nidre, where we renounce all vows either made in the past or in the future (depending on which version of the prayer one accepts) because of the importance of words.
The lesson must be that words matter. We can’t in any way accept that our words don’t have power. Rather, we must see we have all of the power in the world with the words we use. To build on this even more, we can point to the very beginning of the book of Genesis we’re completing this week. God created the world in which we live, not with tools or materials, but with words. Words matter.
Fulfilling our vows is not enough to see how important our words are to this world. A greater way is to recognize we have an obligation to use our words. We need to use our words for good. We need to see that each and every one of us has power in our speech. We have the ability to raise people up. We have the ability to protect others with our words. We have the ability to inspire people. We have the ability, with our words, to build worlds and we must put those abilities to work. We need to pledge to see the importance and power of our words in our lives and in the world.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Hearshen
