Shanah Tova! This
morning, we have read the stories of our ancestors that the ancient rabbis
decreed we should read on this day. We read some of the story of Isaac, and as
I mentioned last night, we know his story is a difficult one. Sarah believed
she couldn’t have children. She shows great faith in her husband’s relationship
with God and does all she can to ensure his legacy and the Jewish people’s
covenant. She is rewarded with her miracle baby Isaac. Though we know his life
is a miracle and that he is the one prophesied to carry on the line of Abraham,
we hear that God tells Abraham he must sacrifice Isaac and Abraham seems
willing to do so. Thankfully, God interferes just in time, and we learn that
the whole thing was a test. Abraham and Isaac show great faith that all will
work out however it is meant to in the end. They all face adversity with
strength and bravery, and are flexible as the situations shift.
We read the story
of Hannah, who, like Sarah, was a beloved but barren wife. Her husband also had
children by a secondary wife, but Hannah desperately wanted to have a child of
her own. She prays fervently at the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, so emphatically
that Eli the priest thinks she is drunk. When he sees that she is not and
understands the depth of her prayer, he promises her that she too will have her
miracle baby. Sure enough, she gives birth to Samuel. Samuel, like Isaac, must
be given to God. Thankfully, unlike Isaac, it is not through near-sacrifice,
but rather to serve God with life-long service. Again, though the challenges
our heroes may not be experiences we’ve had, or their choices may not have been
ours, we can see and learn from these stories, the way in which they were
willing to pray and face difficulties with utmost faith in God.
Another passage of
our Tanakh that is traditionally read during Rosh HaShanah is from the book of
the prophet Jeremiah. Though we won’t read it directly here at Ner Shalom, we
can learn from that too. Jeremiah lived and wrote after the northern Israelite
Kingdom of Samaria had been destroyed by the Assyrians and he saw that the
Babylonians were coming to finish off the Israelites in the southern kingdom.
He warned people that the Babylonians were coming because the Israelites had
strayed from God, were worshipping idols, and were being unkind to one another.
The Temple was being used to carry out business transactions among the wealthy
and ruling classes while the poor, the orphan, and the widow, remained cold and
hungry in the streets of the holy city. If the people continue to look away
from God, Jeremiah warns, God will look away from the people.
Although this doesn’t come to pass in
Jeremiah’s lifetime, he continues to prophesy beyond that and predicts what
will come after the exile into Babylonia. He foresees that there will be those
among the people of Israel who will stay strong and brave and survive the
Babylonian attacks and oppression. These survivors will see the errors of their
ways, will heed the warnings of Jeremiah. It will be too late for them to avoid
the Babylonians or exile, but it is never, ever too late for Teshuvah. God will
hear their prayers, their apologies, and God promises to lead the people back
to the Holy Land. Jeremiah tells the people that God has appeared to him and
reminded him of the “Everlasting Love,” Ahavat Olam, that God has for the
people of Israel. He assures them that if they truly repent, even if it comes
too late to avoid the destruction coming for them now, they will still be
forgiven, and will surely one day replant the gardens of Samaria and the fields
of the Judean hills.
God hears the cries of the oppressed,
even if they themselves are not free of sin. God hears the weeping of those who
know they’ve done wrong and want to make it right. God hears those who yearn to
make the world a better place. A famous line comes from this haftarah which
tugs at my heartstrings every time I read it. Jeremiah 31:14 says, “A voice was
heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping; Rachel weeping for her
children, because they are not.” Rachel is the matriarch of the exiles because
she is the only one of the Matriachs and Patriarchs not buried with Abraham,
Sarah, Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob, and Leah at Machpelah. Rachel, like Sarah and
Hannah, was the favored wife but had difficulty having children. After her own
fervent praying, she gave birth to Joseph, whose story I’m sure you know. We
are not told if there is more praying or how she gets pregnant the second time,
but we are told she dies while trying to give birth to Benjamin. Jacob gives
her a hasty burial at their encampment near Beer-Sheva and continues on his
way. She is separated, left to haunt the roadway between the land of Israel and
the East, crying for her children. Her weeping is silenced by God, through
Jeremiah’s promise to the sinful people of Israel: your emotional labor will be
rewarded. After true teshuvah, the children of Israel, Rachel’s lost babies,
will be spared destruction and they will follow her callings home.
Jeremiah’s message is clear: there is
always hope. There is no sin too great for God to forgive, it is never too late
to turn back. In the wake of recent events, I’ve been hearing more and more
about the former white supremacists who have seen the error of their ways and
now make it their purpose in life to reach out to young white men at risk of
being sucked into neo-Nazi groups. For some of these men (and they seem to all
be men, since racist and sexist ideologies often go hand in hand), they found
their ways out of the cult-like communities of white nationalists by finally meeting
a Jewish person or person of color and seeing that people who seem different in
some ways are really still just people, similar to themselves in so many other
ways. To be the Jewish person or person of color (or someone is both) that
takes on educating someone convinced to hate you requires an immense amount of
emotional labor and could even be physically dangerous. I wholeheartedly
commend those who have done that to start this wave of reformed white
nationalists, but I also recognize the greater importance of the reformed white
nationalists carrying on the work. They can reach the key demographic much more
easily and safely and make the important connections that allow someone doing
this sort of soul searching to meet us safely. In doing this kind of work, they
are doing real teshuvah, and truly making amends for their pasts. No matter
what hate they’ve spread already, in turning away from it now, I truly believe
they can help undo some of that damage. In helping others undo it, they are
showing us they are worthy of our forgiveness and our help, and I’m certain
that God will inscribe them in the Book of Life this year.
Whatever guilt you carry in your heart
now, let it go. Have hope in a brighter future. Know that there is no sin too
great, no time too far past to apologize, repent, and turn toward goodness. This
new year, have faith in your own strength to face the difficult situations that
true teshuvah requires. Know that God wants you to be dedicated to
righteousness, whatever it takes to get yourself there. Follow the callings of
Rachel, believe in the promise of Jeremiah, and take to heart the resilience
modeled for us by our ancestors. I’m certain you, too, will find your way home
and be inscribed for blessing in the Book of Life.
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