Parashat Vayishlach
Parashat Vayishlach, my bar mitzvah parsha, is always an opportunity for me to engage in self-reflection.
How I have grown and changed over the years? And how I have fulfilled my father’s charge to me that day, “To thine own self be true,” from Hamlet? To be true to yourself, you have to discover who you are and what it is that you are meant be. I see in this week’s parsha, when Jacob “wrestles” with an angel and is transformed by the experience and blessed to become Israel, who he was meant to be.
We live in a world filled with chaos and confusion, where we are bombarded by screens telling us what we should think and how we should behave. It can be overwhelming. To remain grounded in the midst of this overload, you have to know who you are and what you believe in. For me as a rabbi, Torah and Jewish tradition provide that grounding. We have a tradition that has a long and proven track record, able to guide us in the most difficult of situations; a tradition that can provide wisdom that has stood the test of time and remains vital and pertinent in our own day and age.
We have recently celebrated Thanksgiving, which is a very Jewish American holiday. Giving thanks is at the heart of Judaism. We are encouraged to recite brachot/blessing at every opportunity. The blessings remind us to be grateful for all that we have. We are blessed to live in a time and place that provides so much abundance.
Now you might say to me, “Rabbi, these last two years have seen a return of antisemitism and been filled with strife beyond anything seen in the last 50 years.” And that would be true, but life is always filled with both good and bad, happy and sad.
Judaism teaches us to appreciate the good things even while experiencing the difficulties. That is the very reason we break a glass during a wedding ceremony, to remind us that even at our happiest moments, sadness and loss will be there too, but that it should not be allowed to distract us from celebrating.
Here in the synagogue world we will next be turning our attention toward Chanukah. We want our students to understand that it is about more than just lighting candles and getting gifts. We want them to know about the miracle of the oil as described in the Talmud and the miraculous victory of the Maccabees as found in the apocryphal Books of the Maccabees. We want them to know when and where and how to light their Chanukiah. We want them to know how to play dreidel (and we want you to know that it was a German gambling game that the rabbis opposed, but it was too popular to eliminate, so the rabbis incorporated it with the phrase, “Nes Gadol Haya Sham — a Great Miracle Happened There.”) We eat latkes and sufganiyot because they are fried in oil, a symbol of the holiday. It is difficult for Jewish public school students with the onslaught of Christmas, because what America sees as secular, we see as Christian. So we want to make sure that our children are well grounded and can be true to themselves.
Recently, it has not been easy to be Jewish in America or pretty much anywhere else either. And this time of year can make us feel even more isolated and in the minority. We accept our minority status. We don’t need to be like everyone else, but we want to be accepted for who we are, what we believe, and what we choose to do or not do. It can be a challenging dance for those of us who choose to live in the Diaspora. Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan z”l sought to teach us to live fully as Jews and fully as Americans, embracing both civilizations that we have chosen to make core parts of our identity. That is why we celebrate Thanksgiving and Chanukah but not Christmas.
We know who we are, we know what we believe, we know what we will and do not want to do. That is the joy and the challenge of living Jewishly in America. May you recognize and celebrate the joy and the many gifts that we all enjoy.