Rabbi's Blog

Rosh Hashanah Morning - 5785

Let's begin this morning with a story about Jacob, our ancestor. Jacob is about to have his family reunion with his brother Esau. It's the morning of the event and he's extremely nervous. Keep in mind, the last time he saw his brother, Esau wanted to kill him. So of course, Jacob is extremely anxious. In order to calm his nerves, he sends his family ahead so he can take some alone time.

            As Jacob takes his little detour, a mysterious Angel wrestles with him. The Angel grabs Jacob’s arm and throws him to the ground. Jacob gets up, assesses his opponent, and dashes for his legs to take him down. Jacob holds him in place on the ground only to be kicked off. The angel and Jacob simultaneously get up.  The two of them stare each other down. They continue wrestling for quite some time. Until finally, when Jacob realizes that his strength is running out, he grabs on to the Angel with such force that the Angel cries, “Let go of me. I need to return to the heavenly gates.” Jacob says, “I will only let go, if you bless me.” The Angel then utters the following phrase, “From this point going forward, you will no longer be called Jacob, but you will have another name. That name will be Yisrael. This name means one who has struggled with God and humanity, and you continue to persevere.”

            Our name, Yisrael, means that we shall struggle. When thinking about the past year, 5784, one word surpasses them all -  struggle. I know I have found myself throughout this entire year struggling. Struggling with so much externally and internally. And when I think about the story of Jacob, it helps me to understand that struggling is a part of who I am as a Jew. But this year, the struggle just seemed too much. (pause)

Early in the morning on October 7th, Jewish families in kibbutz Aza were picking some of the final oranges from their orange groves. Most still were in their homes with some even watching Bluey on Disney plus with their young children. In another part of southern Israel, Gen. Z’ers were waking up after sleeping out all night under the stars at the Nova Music Festival, whose purpose was to celebrate joy and togetherness.

Then, the sirens blared. Hamas Terrorists on hang gliders flew into the kibbutz and started killing the farmers and massacring the families in their homes. At the music festival, the young people were completely stunned as Hamas jeeps rolled in and started shooting, taking the young lives.

And after a few days, we all learned that October 7th was the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust. 7000 Jews injured. 1200 Jews murdered (Including 350 young people that were at the Nova Music Festival as well as many women, children, and the elderly). And 250 Jews were taken hostage.

Since October 7th, the Jewish struggle has not been some theoretical concept. The Jewish struggle has not been something religious or spiritual. No, the Jewish struggle has been an existential reality. October 7^th opened up all of our eyes to the reality that there are those in this world who wish to remove us from the face of the earth. Even after the constant calls for the return of the hostages, the struggle continues. Even after we heard stories of rape and senseless massacres of families, the struggle continues. Even after we try to get our hostages out, the struggle continues.

October 7th is the most important moment in our Jewish history. Consider that most of the Jewish population in the world is under the age of 60. This means that most of our congregation barely has any firsthand recollection of the War in 1967. Further, all of us only have the memories of generations past to help us understand the Holocaust. Modern Israel is the only Israel that we know. October 7th, a day which will live in infamy for us as Jews, becomes a seminal moment for all of us because it was the moment when, regardless of our affiliation or connection to Judaism, we learned that we were the other.

And how do we interpret what happened? Many of us solidified it into extremely clear terms. “This is a battle of good versus evil! This is a battle between terrorists and the West! This is a battle between us and them!” October 7th, paired with this thinking, united us. Many of us were there at Congregation Sons of Israel when we gathered as a united Jewish Westchester. Many of us gave to Jewish causes more than we ever had because our existence was threatened. Many of us marched and stood side by side with fellow Reconstructionist, Orthodox, and Conservative Jews expressing our solidarity with the people of Israel. And all of us sounded our simple but important demand that the hostages come home.

The threat and the struggle caused by October 7th demanded that we come together. And we did. We fought against Hamas. We battled against the international court. And we struggled against our own administration. We struggled and we struggled and we struggled because we would not let our brothers and sisters stand alone. We, united, needed to support them, especially because it meant struggling for our and their existence. And today, we still struggle against Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran. And so, like Jacob of the Torah, we struggle…   But, in 5784, that wasn't my only struggle.

God and Abraham are walking together. God asks Abraham to look out onto the horizon and see the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. God tells Abraham that these cities are filled with bad people, evil people, so the cities are to be destroyed. In response, Abraham pleads with God saying, “Are you going to destroy the good with the bad? There must be some good people in these cities, right? What if there are 40 or 50 good people, should they die with all the evil ones?” In response to Abraham's plea, God listens and tries to save the cities.

This Abraham story is one of our Jewish foundational stories. Just like the Jacob story, it defines our Jewish identity. It helps us understand that morality is not removed from our Judaism. All the more so, morality cannot be removed from our REFORM Jewish identities.  Think about this, we are sitting here side by side. We do not separate men and women. We come into the sacred space wearing the attire that we chose to wear. At Beth Am, women read from Torah and they even lead our congregation. These are all sacred gifts from a Reform tradition that has existed for 300 years. One of the primary foundation stones of Reform Judaism is placing moral and rational thought over religious dogma and tribalism. We make decisions in our movement not based solely on what our tradition instructs. We make certain choices because they meet the needs of modernity as well as they meet the standard for modern moral character. As Reform Jews, we always celebrate that Abraham story because it tells of how our ancestor argued with God because of the moral implications of God’s plan.

I raise this story and this background because for me, as a Reform rabbi, I have struggled and I continue to struggle. I don't ask you to agree with me. I only ask you to listen. The struggle against Hamas has been challenging. So too has the struggle to watch some 40,000 Palestinian lives being taken. While I understand that the goal of the Israeli government was and is to destroy Hamas and to return the hostages, my heart cries out on moral grounds. While Israel has succeeded in destroying some leaders of Hamas and many hundreds or thousands of Hamas fighters, is that worth the loss of 30 to 35,000 civilians.

So I struggle. I struggle because right and wrong are not as clear as they once were before Oct. 7^th. I stand here today saying I struggle because if there are others who struggle, I want you to know that it's OK. It is OK to have feelings about the loss of innocent life because that is what we have taught you. Caring about innocent life is what it means to be a Reform Jew. Questioning, and not just accepting, is woven into the fabric of our movement. I know I can't remove it from my Jewish identity, so if it is woven into yours, I don't want you to feel you need to remove it, as well. And so, like Jacob in the Torah, we struggle.

Yet, Jacob’s struggles were not all for not. According to the story, after he struggles, he travels back to his family and they all go to meet Esau. The text beautifully describes Jacob walking up to his brother. Esau and Jacob embrace, falling over each other and they weep together.

Without the struggle, there can be no embrace. Without the struggle, there can be no improvement. Without the struggle, there can be no growth. The paradigm of Jacob and Esau helps us to realize two very important things. Yes, it is part of our tradition to struggle. But our namesake doesn't end there. The story is not over at that point. No, the story continues to teach us about hope. We struggle and it will lead us to a better place. For those of us who are thinking, “Where will all of this go?” For me, the answer is simple. I have hope that this will lead to a better future. I do not know what that future will be. I do not know if that means that the Palestinians and Israelis will live in a 2 state solution. Or if it means that the Palestinians will live within the borders of Israel and their freedoms and their rights will be expanded in order for them to live more peaceful lives. I do not know if it will be either of those options or something completely different. What I do know is that I have hope. That hope rests on the reality that I long for an embrace.  Whether it is a literal one with my Muslim brothers and sisters or whether it is a metaphoric one which is an embrace of peace for all in the region, the hope for the embrace is real.

The story of our people does not only include struggling, it includes a great amount of hope that leads to reality. From the stories of our people in the camps to the stories of IDF soldiers who long for peace in the region, throughout time, our people have relied on hope to get them through their darkest of times.

There is a teaching that God used consistent symmetrical shapes when creating the universe and everything in it. As tall as the tree is above the ground, so too, are the roots deep. The world is balanced and exists in both the darkness and the light. So I call on you at the dawn of 5785 not to be afraid of the struggles and also most importantly do not give up hope. I believe we are on the brink of great heights, perhaps leading to great light. I just hope you will hope with me.

May it be God’s will