Sermons & Stories

Shabbat Shalom!

We are living through a challenging time. It’s been stressful. Sometimes, it’s been overwhelming. We don’t always know how to cope; we don’t always know the right thing to do. There’s a lot of fear and there’s a lot of uncertainty.

And while it’s not the same thing, some of those emotions would have also been present for the ancient Israelites. They’ve been enslaved and they are watching plague after plague. And while the plagues didn’t impact them, imagine that sense of awe of watching the world get turned upside down time and time again. It would have been amazing to experience and terrifying.

After nine different events, Moses gathers this group of slaves together. People who initially didn’t believe him. People who lived their entire lives beaten down by oppression, these people who didn’t have to do anything but witness God’s power to this point. And now, in Parshat Bo, Moses explains that they have to do something.

God brought hail with fire inside, more frogs or locusts than anyone could imagine, absolute darkness covering the Egyptians – now God was telling them that they had to take a goat and care for it for three days when they didn’t have much of anything. Their lives depended on it. Their emotions might have been jumbled and they would have to endure their oppressors’ scrutiny for three days before the final plague would come. And they did it. In the midst of challenge and stress and uncertainty, they were moved to act. It might not have been comfortable and it might not have been miraculous – still, they managed to do something in a positive way.

And I think that a lot of us are asking the question – how can we act today in a positive way? With everything that we’re dealing with in our world, our nation, our state, our local community – with all the uncertainty – a lot of people have been asking, “what can we do?” The answer is – quite a lot!

There’s a lot for us to do – so many ways to make a difference – because so much of our society runs contrary to our values. Yes – contrary to our values.

Our tradition values education. We take pride in education and stress to our children the importance of learning and asking good questions. It’s a high priority. And yet teachers, the facilitators of education, are really struggling. They are burnt out as they try to navigate COVID, state and local politics, and the daily challenges of being a teacher. If we value education as much as we say we do, we’re certainly not paying them or supporting them accordingly.

In the Talmud, Rabbis would rise when one of their teachers walked into the room. Not tictoks where students were recording abuse of their teachers. There’s a reason why recent surveys indicate that almost half of all teachers are considering quitting their job and over one third are thinking of leaving the profession altogether https://www.k12dive.com/news/survey-48-of-teachers-considering-job-change/610477/. Faced with that reality, we embarrass ourselves when we stress the value of education and then allow such disrespect to occur. And it’s even worse for people who are old or have disabilities.

Older people and people with disabilities who cannot live independently need physical and emotional help and support. It is a Jewish value to care for and give honor to people who are older. It is a Jewish value to provide that help and support for people with disabilities. We say this, yet our society devalues people for needing help and we devalue the people who are paid to provide the help. Too many people are made to feel like a burden, worthless – by our societal priorities and actions.

Home support staff and residential and nursing home staff are not paid well, they’re not treated well, and they’re often overworked. How does that reflect our values? We value compassionate, quality care, but we’re just not willing as a society to pay for it or honor those who provide it. The need is increasing and will continue to increase. We need to start living our values.

We say we value our democracy; we say we value caring for people who are poor; we say we value opportunity for all people, regardless of their race or religion or gender identity or sexual orientation; we say we value our relationship with nature and our planet; we say a lot of things. When I look out at the world, I’m not seeing those values.

Our tradition encourages us to strive for congruence – when our values and our thoughts match our actions. We’re not there, but don’t get too down. That means we have a lot of opportunity to live our values and both show ourselves and remind others that our values are worth living for and working towards and bringing into reality.

In the midst of chaos and uncertainty, God asked the Israelites to face their fears and do something – something that would ultimately help save lives. They didn’t have to work a miracle, but they had to take action. We are living in the midst of a different kind of chaos and uncertainty and it’s our turn to do something. Our values provide a solid foundation – it’s up to us to build upon them with practical, intelligent action. The opportunities are there. All we need to do is act.

Shabbat Shalom!