D'var Torah

This week’s Torah portion, Lech L’cha, contains a famous promise from God to Abram (soon to be Abraham): Go forth, from your land, your homeland, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. (Genesis 12:1-2)

What does it mean to tell someone “you will be a blessing”? Traditionally, Jewish sources have understood this to mean that through his actions, Abraham would bring blessings to other people. Relative to earlier stories in the Torah, in which God was the only one who could offer blessings, this was a turning point. As the medieval commentator Rashi noted: “Before [Abraham and Sarah’s time], blessings were in God’s power – but now [human beings] could bless whoever [they] wished.”

Over the past few weeks, in the midst of the grief and shock our community has navigated, I have also been inspired by the many, many ways people in our community have been working hard to “be blessings” – to each other, and to the world. We have come together for multiple gatherings – most recently, in a Havdalah Gathering for Israel with many other synagogues and organizations in the Northern Virginia community. Many of you are working extremely hard – in your professional lives, and in your personal lives – to support Israeli and Palestinian civilians who are suffering, and to support each other. 

In the early days of the war, our community also came together to donate funds that would be sent directly to Israelis in need of medical support, protective gear, and (in the case of people displaced by the war) housing and food. We are so moved by the incredible generosity of our community – within only a few days, our community (internally) raised more than $160,000. We are now working to disburse these funds as quickly as possible (and encouraging ongoing direct donations to organizations doing this important work). 

In the coming days, we’ll share more – and in more detail – about the kinds of support these funds have offered. But for now we wanted to share preliminarily that in addition to giving to the organizations who spoke (or were represented with print materials) at our Havdalah gathering on October 21, we also have directed funds towards several kibbutzim that are in the process of rebuilding after Hamas’ attacks (Nahal Oz, Be’eri, and Kfar Aza), and to multiple organizations providing physical and mental health support to survivors of the attacks in the South of Israel. We are also directing funds to our sister congregation, Kehillat Ra’anan, which is doing incredible work to support the health, food, and financial needs of communities directly impacted by the war. In the midst of a time of terrible loss, chaos, and uncertainty, they (and so many others) are working so hard to bring blessings and hope.

Please know that we are here for you always, and especially as we continue to navigate this time. You can always reach out to any of the clergy to meet, whether for personal support or to share ideas (or both, or more). And please stay tuned for more opportunities in the coming weeks to gather as a community to learn, support one another, and act. Thank you for all that each of you do to be, and bring, blessings into our world.

Rabbi Alexandra Stein