Fifteen years ago, this Shabbat, I led my first Friday Night service in Buffalo. This was my trial run at then Temple Sinai, and the Torah portion centered on the ten plagues. I began my talk that night by bringing out a bag of plastic toys representing each of the plagues designed to be used at a Passover Seder. “The plagues are no joke,” I told the congregation. We do not celebrate the suffering of our enemies.
When “the Lord struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle” (Exodus 12:29) our innocence and God’s innocence is forever shattered. We must grapple with our history in an honest way, warts, and all. On Sunday, February 5, I have been invited to Westminster Presbyterian Church to speak about Jewish Extremism at their Case Lecture Breakfast series. Modern Jewish terrorists like Baruch Goldstein (a doctor who murdered 29 Muslims at the Cave of Machpelah) and Yigal Amir (Rabin’s assassin) are examples of times when the teachings of our tradition were used toward harm.
We grapple with our past not to simply rehash our mistakes, but to prevent future ones. By being honest and open about who we are we free ourselves and others from the weight of what came before.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Alex