by Yedidah
June 22, 2020
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Our world, both politically and culturally is in turmoil. Our value systems are being turned upside down. Freedom of speech in the West is no longer guaranteed. Our economic systems serve only a few with the majority suffering under huge burdens. And, in more than one country, democracy itself and the freedom of the individual are under attack. All this was true before, but now added to that is the Coronavirus crisis and the latest riots in the US and the world. Where are we heading?
Times of chaos are definitely uncomfortable for us: and we are the individuals who are destined to live through them. But such times also provide opportunities for us to reassess our values and to make new decisions in the directions that we, as individuals, as families, and as communities want to go.
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by Yedidah
May 26, 2020
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All the Jewish people living today are sparks of the 600, 000 root souls of Israel that stood together at Mount Sinai and received the Torah. Those root souls are us. We reincarnate, time and again, throughout the generations. And so we too stood together at the foot of the Mountain and experienced the voice of God. That moment is forever etched into our souls.
On the other hand when we are told what is in the Torah, we begin to see it makes demands on us. It demands that we work with it, learn it, practice it. It makes ethical demands, in action not just in thought. It has mitzvot for us to keep whether they are convenient or not, whether we have grown up with them or not; mitzvot which declare our relationship with God as well as delineating our ethical relationship with our fellow human being; mitzvot of action and of feeling; mitzvot of thought and speech. The Torah demands a living, active relationship with God, here in the now. Not as something historical. The Torah doesn’t let us bask in a cozy armchair feeling of being one of the chosen people but it demands a relationship in the present. A renewed covenant, a renewed commitment. That is the meaning for us of the upcoming festival of Shavuot.
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