From the Rabbi's Desk

וַיְדַבֵּר מֹשֶׁה כֵּן אֶל־בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְלֹא שָׁמְעוּ אֶל־מֹשֶׁה מִקֹּצֶר רוּחַ וּמֵעֲבֹדָה קָשָׁה / But when Moses told this to the Israelites, they would not listen to Moses, their spirits crushed by cruel bondage. (Exodus 6:9) These words from near the beginning of this week’s Torah portion, VaEra, discuss a phenomenon many of us can relate to: feeling crushed and beaten down. There have been so many times where each of us have felt winded and unable to get our bearings because of something that’s transpired in our lives or in our world. People can say all sorts of things to us but we aren’t be able to internalize them or believe them because we are beaten or we are just too far gone at that moment. This is not new as it’s clearly seen in this week’s reading and therefore needs to be addressed.

The news around the world is not good. In fact, it hasn’t been good for quite some time. Just as one crisis seems to abate we find ourselves knee deep in another one. I remember in the months following 9/11 I spoke on a Shabbat about a website called happynews.com. It was 2001 and I was exasperated by the awful news and reality of our world. I was looking for something that wasn’t terrible and hence the website happynews.com. Back in 2001, the top story was about a zoo that was exercising its penguins by taking them for walks around the zoo. Today’s number one video is of a sneaky German Shepard that stole a toddler’s pacifier and was caught. While to some this might sound ignorant as it ignores the real pain and adversity in the world today, I would argue nobody is ignoring the storm; we just need reminding there’s a rainbow after it as well.

To have a broken spirit today is natural. As Jews, we’ve spent enough time feeling discriminated against and hated. We’ve put up with enough anti-Semitism. I was overjoyed to see so many people join us this week to learn about anti-Semitism when we joined together with St James United Methodist Church. I am very proud of our members who are taking it upon themselves to travel to Israel and help our homeland. Both of these call to mind the קצר רוח/broken spirits we’re contending with and our collective need to find an antidote. With all this said, to every ying there is often a yang. In this case, it’s wonderful to boast that we show up for conversations about the oldest hatred still in existence (hatred of us) and show up for Israel, but we struggle to show up as Jews to so much more. We struggle to show up for learning opportunities about our faith, our practices and our heritage. We struggle to show up for ritual observances such as Shabbat services and minyan. We struggle to show up to volunteer to help both in our building and outside as well. OVS is not unique in this, but we can only address our struggles and not those of other institutions.

The reality is I will continue to write, advocate and speak about Israel and anti-Semitism because the need is real and urgent. But I cannot continue to do so at the expense of our spiritual well-being. After the shootings in Pittsburgh at the Tree of Life Synagogue in 2017, two books came out about anti-Semitism. One of these books was by Atlanta’s own Dr. Deborah Lipstadt and the other was by Bari Weiss. Both books analyzed the real hatred that’s out there and both asked the profound and relevant question of “what can we Jews do”? The answer in both books and in numerous other places is that we need to redouble our efforts to be committed to ourselves, to our people and to our religion. Our response to their dark hatred is to bring light into the world and that light must be a deepening of our commitment to Judaism. Each of us must find ways to do more and be more. Each of us must take our קצר רוח / broken spirit and rebuild it through our faith and our practices. When Jews are committed to our people we are strong. When Jews are committed to our observances we are stronger. When Jews step up to grow as Jews, we become stronger in spite of the hate and ugliness sent our way.

The greatest tool we have in our toolbox today is to simply show those who hate us they don’t matter even a little. We take who we are seriously and we are committed to our people and our faith. The greatest stand we can make isn’t about arguing with them online. It’s not about counter protests or about proving them wrong. It’s about wearing our Jewish jewelry and our kippot where ever we go. It’s about making sure our Mezuzot are placed on our houses. It’s about becoming more engaged Jews and thus strengthening ourselves while diminishing them. Please consider what you can do to become a more involved and committed Jew, and member of our community, and let us know what we can do to assist you on that journey.