Dear TBZ community:
A year ago my Shabbat N’kabla message for parshat Sh’lach Lecha announced that we were having an in-person Bar Mitzvah service in the Sanctuary. It would be our first during the pandemic. There would be just 10 people allowed and everyone would wear masks. A year ago, I shared what that moment meant: the sadness of not being able to welcome everyone mixed with the joy of a celebration in the sanctuary, albeit small, for the first time in a long time.
It is one year later and we have spent the whole past week here at TBZ preparing for this Shabbat that is open to 90 people. We are so excited to see you in-person (still wearing masks). You can sign up here if you want to join us in person. Wow! Change has come. Perhaps there is something in this week's parsha that inspires transition, embraces change and guides us as we move forward.
If you recall, this week is the famous story of the 12 scouts that go into the land of Israel and then bring a report back to the people as they prepare to enter the land. Ten of the scouts come back with one report while two others, Yehoshua bin Nun and Caleb ben Yefuneh, have what seems like a very different account.
But truly it is not the accounts that are different but the perspectives.
Yehoshua and Caleb say that the people that inhabit the land are powerful and that the cities are well fortified. They also say that it is a land of honey and milk. Yehoshua and Caleb encourage the people to go forward and to conquer the land. They recognize the challenges and they step up with courage and hope.
The ten scouts see the same challenges but their perspective is very different. They see themselves as small and the challenges much too great. They can not imagine being able to move forward.
וַנְּהִ֤י בְעֵינֵ֙ינוּ֙ כַּֽחֲגָבִ֔ים וְכֵ֥ן הָיִ֖ינוּ בְּעֵינֵיהֶֽם׃
...we looked like grasshoppers to ourselves, and so we must have looked to them.
In times of transitions and change and at any time in our life we can be the ten scouts AND we can be Yehoshua and Caleb. It is not always easy to be Yehoshua and Caleb -- to hold hope, conviction, and confidence in order to face challenges. Like the ten scouts, we can feel fear and apprehension, and those feelings can guide how we view the world and most importantly how we view ourselves.
I know that at this time some of us are feeling more like the ten scouts. We may be asking ourselves, “Can I be hopeful? Or are the changes, the transitions, the challenges ahead of me too large?”
Perhaps we can take some courage and hope from Yehoshua and Caleb who saw the possibilities ahead of them as greater than the challenges?
These feelings of courage and concern are also present as we witness the government of Israel change this past week. After twelve years of Netanyahu as Prime Minister of Israel a new coalition has formed- an alliance of left-right-center-Islamist-Jewish-secular- religious leaders called Israel’s Change Coalition.
We can look at this moment from different perspectives: A part of me (not a small one) doesn’t believe that a coalition like this will hold. A part of me wonders if this is a good thing. My dear friend Stephen Arnoff, CEO of the Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center wrote something that made me think differently :
Just pause to note the miraculous, as people sometimes should: A coalition of left-right-center-Islamist-Jewish-secular-religious leaders in which all of the drivers, most especially the one who lead the process, Yair Lapid, had to make major sacrifices of ambition and mission, have joined hands immediately after a war, heart-rending and terrifying civil and factional violence, and a pandemic to find a new path forward. With all of the hate and discomfort and disassociation about Israel we have seen and heard in the last month (or 2000 years), this is a time for giving thanks for the chance for change, for brave leaders, for working together, and for getting with the program of hard work and hope -- because this is the only way.
Stephen's words have the qualities of Yehoshua and Caleb. Look at what is ahead with hope and with optimism. So today I hold on to that too, as we look forward to a better future.
Things are changing, and that can be scary at times. My wish is that we can learn from Yehoshua and Caleb and move forward with hope, courage and a vision that something good, that blessings, await us.
One more small note: As summer approaches, I will be taking a break from Shabbat N’kabla messages. Next Shabbat on Rosh Hodesh Tammuz I will send one last message for the season and I plan to return to writing weekly on Rosh Hodesh Elul (August 6).
I look forward to celebrating this Shabbat in the community. Tonight our Shabbat Nariya (virtual, see details below) and tomorrow Shabbat services in person (as well as Zoom/stream). I am especially excited to celebrate our dear Tyler Dracth, Rabbinic Intern at TBZ for the last two years who will become a Rabbi on Sunday!
May this Shabbat bring renewal and blessings to all of you and your loved ones.
May we find strength, courage, and patience, and open our hearts with generosity.
May all those who are ill find healing of spirit
May we have a joyful and restful Shabbat!
Shabbat Shalom,
