Shavua tov, everyone.
I am still filled with the sunshine that poured over us Sunday at the rally for Israel. People spoke with such insight and determination; that the light we were standing in would begin to fill the consciousness of those who would prefer to live in darkness.
Thank you especially to Shelley Evans, a Kolot Mayim member, who led off the speakers, and to Pat Johnson, who worked with Marilyn Wolovick to create Upstanders, a truly important resource in combatting anti Semitism.
I spoke with a number of people at the rally, and many were saying the same thing: you can’t build bridges with one hand. We are proud to be Jews and non-Jews standing up for and with Israel.
This week in Ki Teitzei the final verses speak of Amalek: “Remember what Amalek did to you, on the way when you were leaving Egypt….you shall wipe out the memory of Amalek from under the heaven – you shall not forget.” This appears at first and even second reading to be fundamentally a contradictory statement. How do we understand such a seeming contradiction – especially in light of present day Israel?
Our rabbis teach us that to do both is a positive commandment. We are more inclined these days to “forgive and forget.” Torah demands we do remember what evil was waged against us, and only in sustaining that memory, do we understand that reconciliation must lead from remembering and not from amnesia.
Talmud, “Whoever is compassionate to those who deserve cruelty ends up being cruel to those who deserve compassion” (Midrash Tanhuma Metzora, Jerusalem Eshkol, 1971), section 1).
Much love,
Rabbi Lynn
Ki Teitzei
September 11, 2024 by Rabbi Lynn Greenhough • From the Rabbi's Desk
Shavua tov, everyone.
I am still filled with the sunshine that poured over us Sunday at the rally for Israel. People spoke with such insight and determination; that the light we were standing in would begin to fill the consciousness of those who would prefer to live in darkness.
Thank you especially to Shelley Evans, a Kolot Mayim member, who led off the speakers, and to Pat Johnson, who worked with Marilyn Wolovick to create Upstanders, a truly important resource in combatting anti Semitism.
I spoke with a number of people at the rally, and many were saying the same thing: you can’t build bridges with one hand. We are proud to be Jews and non-Jews standing up for and with Israel.
This week in Ki Teitzei the final verses speak of Amalek: “Remember what Amalek did to you, on the way when you were leaving Egypt….you shall wipe out the memory of Amalek from under the heaven – you shall not forget.” This appears at first and even second reading to be fundamentally a contradictory statement. How do we understand such a seeming contradiction – especially in light of present day Israel?
Our rabbis teach us that to do both is a positive commandment. We are more inclined these days to “forgive and forget.” Torah demands we do remember what evil was waged against us, and only in sustaining that memory, do we understand that reconciliation must lead from remembering and not from amnesia.
Talmud, “Whoever is compassionate to those who deserve cruelty ends up being cruel to those who deserve compassion” (Midrash Tanhuma Metzora, Jerusalem Eshkol, 1971), section 1).
Much love,
Rabbi Lynn