D'var Torah

Dear Friends,

We are writing to offer you our support. It has been almost five weeks since the October 7 attack on Israel. The situation in Israel and Gaza - the massacre on October 7, the hostages, the war in Gaza, the needs of the Israeli and Palestinian peoples, the rising antisemitism in our own country – is weighing heavily upon us and upon many of you as well. 

In the early days of the war, many of our communications were especially focused on opportunities to support Israeli and Palestinian civilians with immediate crisis-related needs. We remain committed to sharing those opportunities, and we are so moved by how many people in our community have generously offered support. And today, we are reaching out about a slightly different aspect of all of this.

We have heard from so many of you that you are feeling sad, fearful, anxious, at times confused, and often alone, particularly as you navigate the rhetoric about this conflict … in social media and traditional media, as you walk by or hear about or participate in protests, and in sometimes-fraught conversations with family and friends. 

Some people in our community want to understand more about the history of the conflict. Others want resources to better discern how to understand and respond to language and actions that feel antisemitic. And still others want to know how to have meaningful and connected interactions with loved ones (or casual acquaintances!) who have very different perspectives. 

We want you to know that we are here for you, whatever you are experiencing, and whatever is on your mind. Please feel free to call us, email us, or otherwise reach out. If it would be helpful to you to talk, we'd love to connect. This invitation goes both for folks who are in Northern Virginia, and for those of you who grew up at TRS and now live elsewhere. We especially want to support our college students who are facing unprecedented challenges. As we made ourselves available to you early in the conflict, so too we are eager to connect with you now. 

And for everyone in our community, we want to share a few resources we have found helpful, that speak to some of the needs above. We'd also love to invite those of you who are in town to join us for our congregational conversation this Sunday night, November 12, which we hope will also speak to many of these needs, and be a starting point for further conversations. 

Please feel free to reach out, at any time. We're thinking of you and wishing you well in the world. 

Take good care,

Rabbi Amy Schwartzman (aschwartzman@templerodefshalom.org)
Cantor Michael Shochet (mshochet@templerodefshalom.org)
Rabbi Jeff Saxe (jsaxe@templerodefshalom.org)
Rabbi Alexandra Stein (astein@templerodefshalom.org)
Cantor Sydney Michaeli (smichaeli@templerodefshalom.org)