Source Sheet: https://ikar.app.box.com/s/rtmn38bq994apeql50rea60v1irkvvsg

An extraordinary rabbinic story re-imagines the final

conversation between Moses and God, exploring core questions foundational to

the human experience.  What happens in the moment of death?  And,

what peace can be found when learning to let go?

Some years, the mourning and reflection of Tisha b’Av can feel performative. This year, it will be deeply personal. Even as we approach the abyss, we must remember the redemptive vision planted deep within our souls.

Parashat Devarim, Shabbat Hazon -- 5784

Sermon from 8.3.2024 / Matot-Masei 5784

This week we find ourselves freed from some of the defeatism and despair that was taking root these last weeks and months. And now, with a bit of renewed hope, we have so much work to do. In the parsha we see a model of a collective that includes everyone and centers marginalized and unexpected groups. This moment demands we show up, no matter what that looks like. Find a way in - this fight will take all of us.

The sense of defeatism, all too present after the events in this

country over the last week, is the most dangerous myth threatening our future

right now.  To throw up our hands and surrender to the myth of

inevitability is to relinquish the most precious gift given to humanity: our

capacity to change the world around us.  We can be scared without being

resigned.  We can be exhausted without being fatalistic.  We can be

discouraged but nonetheless courageous.  

When we roll open the sacred Torah, what we see is monochrome. Pale

parchment, dark ink, black, and white. Which are the only colors the

human being can see when we are born. If today's parsha had a color, it

would be red.

Click here to see the painting Hope, by George Frederick Watts, painted

in 1886: https://www.wikiart.org/en/george-frederick-watts/hope-1886

We are living in a world that is broken and painful. It is a moment to turn towards the angels within us and around us in order to find our way through.

Our family is broken. Please, God, help us heal.

Every ounce of our energy must advance a vision of peace.  There is no other way to rebuild a society in ruins.  Our God, and God of our ancestors. Our God, and God of our descendants.  Grant us peace.

A special discussion with author Mickey Bergman about his book, In the Shadows: True Stories of High-Stakes Negotiations to Free Americans Captured Abroad.