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"Therefore,
choose life... uhv, ohause Kedoshim tihyu..." It is rare in our lives when the line between life and death is so clearly drawn as it was during the tragic weeks we experienced this September. As we prepared to greet the new year of 5762 we were all stunned by the vile terror attacks that destroyed the World Trade Center, badly damaged the Pentagon, and wiped out four passenger planeloads of ordinary Americans. It seemed like a bad dream from which we never quite awoke. With so many families in our country we share a sense of profound grief. With virtually every American we have lost a measure of the sense of security that seemed a birthright. We may never—perhaps should never—feel as safe as we did on September 10th. Life is different now. In Jewish tradition, we are told that when someone saves a life, it is as if he or she has saved an entire world. By contrast, someone who commits murder has destroyed an entire world. So what can we say when 5000 someones, 5000 worlds have been destroyed? Perhaps the scale of the atrocity itself is a problem; to paraphrase a butcher of epic proportions, Josef Stalin, one death is a tragedy, 5,000 deaths are a statistic. What we need to constantly remember is that each one of these human lives was precious, sacred—holy. Each person was a tzelem Elohim, an image of God, in our world. Each had family, friends, love, laughter, life. Each is gone now. After we send contributions to emergency relief funds, and give blood, and cry, and vent—what kind of response best serves the memory of those who are lost? Can we just carry on as though nothing has happened? The answer lies in a crucial word, "holiness". In Judaism, human life is profoundly holy. Each life is sacred. And the best way to respond to a desecration of life, like the terrible ones we saw last month, is to embrace the holiness of our own lives. We can do that best in the ways our people have used in times of epic tragedy throughout our long history: by coming together to pray to God as a congregation, by studying Torah and internalizing its moral code, and by working with others to improve our world through social action. Sukkot, the great fall harvest festival, is called the z'man simchateinu, the season of our joy. We are tempted, facing the prospect of celebrating a thanksgiving festival when so many are mourning, to simply ignore all that we have to be grateful for and to continue to feel our inner sadness. But we have so many blessings to be thankful for, at a time when so many have lost so much. We need to gather to thank God for all that we have, to affirm the goodness and holiness in our lives and share it with others. To do that, join us Tuesday mornings October 2nd and 9th at 10 am for Sukkot morning services, and Friday night, October 5th at 7:30 pm for our Sukkot Family services. Enjoy our Spaghetti Under the Sukkah Shabbat Dinnerat 6:15 that night, and/or attend our Tot Kabbalat Shabbat service at 5:45. Come Saturday, October 6th for our 10 AM Shabbat Sukkot services, and celebrate Simchat Torah Tuesday night, October 9th at 6:15. Come, and bring food for our Project Isaiah food collection for the poor. Bring your family, and join in celebrating the holiness of your own life and of our community. Remember what has been lost—but treasure, celebrate, and sanctify what we have, and the God who has made it possible for us to have it. L'shalom and chag sameach, |
