Dear TBZ community:
I woke up this morning and my legs hurt.
Then I remembered: “Yesterday I climbed Masada.”
But I am here in Brookline, so how is that possible?
Raphael Klauber, a sweet, young TBZer, was supposed to have his Bar Mitzvah at Masada yesterday. He and his family were looking forward to flying to Israel for this special celebration. Their plan was to hike Masada in the morning and have the Bar Mitzvah overlooking the beautiful Dead Sea. But their plans had to change, and in the past week, together we made a new plan.
Yesterday, we gathered as a community at TBZ for a wonderful, joyful celebration (with all our safety protocols in place) and we celebrated Raphael. He read from the Torah and delivered a powerful D’var Torah. We sang and we danced.
AND we climbed Masada…
Raphael calculated that the steps to go up Masada were the equivalent of doing 17 and a half laps of the outside stairs of TBZ. Of course, Masada would have been all up, and we counted the ups and the downs, so it was a bit easier! Still, after the service and after energizing ourselves with some delicious donuts baked by big brother Ezra, we went up and down the stairs 17 and a half times.
Raphael and other younger folks climbed fast. Me? I did it slowly, with some help, and by the end I was out of breath. But, together we climbed Masada and celebrated this wonderful Simcha.
As I said to Raphael yesterday, he taught all of us a lesson, and not an easy one: In these challenging times, when we are asked to be flexible and respond to all the uncertainties we face, he showed us how to do this with grace and with joy. He showed us how to embrace the realities in front of us even when it is not what we had hoped for or imagined.
In this week’s parasha, Parshat Shemot, we begin the telling of the Exodus story, with a new Pharaoh, with the birth of Moses and his journey to become the leader of the Jewish People. The story of the Burning Bush, well-known to many of us, introduces us to the concept of holy ground and holy place.
שַׁל־נְעָלֶיךָ מֵעַל רַגְלֶיךָ כִּי הַמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר אַתָּה עוֹמֵד עָלָיו אַדְמַת־קֹדֶשׁ הוּא
Remove your sandals from your feet,
for the place on which you stand is holy ground
Rabbi Bardley Shavit Artson in his book The Bedside Torah, asks the question:
“Is the ground holy because there is something special and unique about that particular place, or is its holiness contextual, deriving from its special use at that moment?”
Rabbi Artson continues and quotes Saadia Gaon:
“as one of the earliest to recognize that holiness is not intrinsic to any one particular site; rather, holiness is the result of what we do, and the meaning we can focus into a particular moment or a special ritual on that site. In commentating on the words ‘holy ground’, Saadia explains that the phrase means ‘made holy’. The sanctity of this site derives from what God and Moses do there, not from the nature of the place itself.” (The Bedside Torah, page 97).
Raphael had felt called to have his Bar Mitzvah in a place that means so much to the Jewish people - at Masada. That was the special and holy ground he had chosen. But the pandemic changed his course. Instead, we as a community made TBZ a holy place for his Bar Mitzvah, and not because 1566 Beacon Street is intrinsically “holy ground”, but because holiness is the result of what we do and the meaning we bring to a particular moment. The teaching here is not that TBZ is as holy as Masada, but rather that holiness is within each one of us – it is in our interactions, it is in the ways we encounter life and even, especially even, it resides within us in the midst of hard and complicated times.
This week has been especially hard and complicated for many of us. Only a couple of weeks ago, we thought and felt things were getting better. Many of us made plans and were looking forward to what seemed like the nearing end of this pandemic. And then things shifted. Like Raphael, we have had to change plans. We have had to cancel vacations, visits, gatherings, even rethink simple choices like whether to go to a restaurant or go shopping. We face a renewed sense of uncertainty and fear. But, the simcha yesterday is a reminder of our capacity to keep going…to keep going and to keep holding onto the blessings and onto the holiness that we create and that is in each of us as we climb what seems like endless stairs.
Yesterday, we learned about our first covid case of someone who was at TBZ and was at our Beit Rabban program (see the announcement here). I am sure many of you already have received this kind of notice from your schools and your workplaces. At this moment, I am grateful for the resilience and strength of our community, and for each one of you. I am grateful to the wonderful doctors who advise us, and give us reassurance that our protocols are strong and safe so that we can continue forward together.
Through the first part of the pandemic I listened, on repeat, to the “The Keep Going Song '' by the Bengsons. Yesterday, I returned to that song, tearing up about the fact that we are still in this; tearing up because I don't know if I have it on me to keep going; quietly mournful because I don't know if I can start 2022 still in pandemic, and still masked, and still getting tested, and once again cancelling plans, and once again facing all the things that we have to do so we can keep going.
And then I listened, again, and again, to The Bengsons and I joined them singing to myself:
Let′s bring some joy into the room. Why not?
We could try it. We could try it
Or some rage
And some grief
And relief
Oohoo-woah I hold my rage
I pray my rage is a fire
That cleans my mind out
And makes me ready to listen
I pray my pain is a river
That flows to the ocean
That connects my pain to yours
And I pray I pray my happiness like pollen
That flies to you and pollinates your joy oh boy
Oh boy is that possible?
Yes, It is possible!! Because we are part of this community, this TBZ community which is a holy ground because of the interactions we have with each other, because we are there for each other in moments of joy and sorrow, and because we bring God’s presence to what we do. I believe that God can hold us in these, once again, uncertain and confusing and fearful times.
Let's remember to take care of each other. Let's keep going and let's continue to hold each other in holiness, and remember: holiness is not intrinsic to any one particular site. Holiness is the result of what we do.
(And let me share another of the songs from The Bengsons that is inspiring me these days: Hope Comes).
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.
May we have a joyful and restful Shabbat!
Shabbat Shalom,
(and for my Christian friends who receive this message, Merry Christmas, may this be a beautiful and joyful holiday for you and your dear ones and communities).
