Sign In Forgot Password

Sermon: Parshat Re-eh, 8/6/21

08/10/2021 03:25:27 PM

Aug10

Rabbi Charlie

Shabbat Shalom!

To read through the first eleven chapters of Deuteronomy, it would be easy to come away with the impression that it’s hard to be an Israelite. Moses tells us about the wonders we experienced, and he stresses that we’ve been a burden. He shares wisdom and teachings, and he recounts all the times we felt short of expectations. Moses points out numerous challenges throughout our journeys – the war and violence, God’s anger, many tests. He gives us warning after warning.

After recounting all of these challenges and difficulties, we come to this week’s Torah portion, parshat Re’eh. Sometimes a section of the Torah is noteworthy because of a story or a teaching and sometimes it’s noteworthy because of a word. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks (z”l) points out that the word simcha – joy – appears in Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers only one time each. In Deuteronomy, we find joy twelve times altogether – seven times parshat Re’eh alone!

So why the focus on joy? Because finally, after recapping all of the hardships and difficulties of the journey, Moses finally starts to look ahead. He speaks to a future where we have safety from our enemies and food in abundance. He speaks of a central location where we can gather and rejoice.

The message is clear. Life is hard, but it won’t always be hard. Another challenge is right around the corner and sometimes we will fail, but there will be moments of joy. And what’s fascinating is that every time Moses talks about simcha – joy in this Torah portion, joy is not something that we do alone.

You and your families shall rejoice…. You and your children and servants and the Levites in your town shall rejoice…. Rejoice with your family and the stranger and the orphan and the widow…. All seven times the Torah stresses that joy – the act of rejoicing – is not something that we do alone. Joy is a larger activity – something we do with others, something we do as community.

While this communal understanding of joy isn’t something that I think about all the time, it does a great job of helping to explain one of my frustrations. It’s not uncommon that when I ask someone if I’ll see them at a bar or bat mitzvah, they will respond back that they were not invited – as if that answers the question. I try to explain that a bar or bat mitzvah service is open to the whole community. Everyone is invited – and there’s usually a celebratory lunch afterwards. It’s a great time to go to a service because we are supposed to rejoice in community. We find joy together. You’re a part of our community, you take pride in watching another young person embrace their responsibility as a Jew – then you’re invited!

And no matter how I explain it, not everyone can hear it. Assumptions often get in the way. Pirkei Avot teaches that we’re not supposed to remove ourselves or distance ourselves from our people or our community – because when we do, we are diminished. Every celebration – from bar or bat mitzvah to holidays to birthdays and anniversaries and so much more – every celebration is better with our community. And it all comes back to this beautiful understanding that the only way to rejoice is together.

And this teaching is all the more important when we are facing challenges and difficulties and hardships. It’s all the more important when we don’t know what tomorrow will bring. It’s all the more important when we may not be able to all gather in one place or gather in the way we would prefer.

It’s so important that tonight, right now, I am giving you your invitation. It’s an invitation that is handwritten in our Torah. It’s an invitation that says, “We rejoice together and I belong at CBI.” It says, “We struggle together and I belong at CBI.” It says, “We are all unique and those special things that makes you you belong at CBI.” It says, “Of course we’re going to disagree – we’re family and we belong at CBI. It’s an invitation that we need to share with our members and our former members and those who are exploring our congregation and those who are exploring Judaism.

It’s been hard. It won’t always be hard. One thing doesn’t change - in good times and in bad, we need each other.

Shabbat Shalom!

Thu, March 28 2024 18 Adar II 5784