D'var Torah

This week, Jewish communities around the world will begin the Torah cycle anew, reading the first parasha of the Torah, Bereishit, which describes the story of creation. God created the earth, the animals, the people, all in six days, and on the seventh day, God rested. This reading happens immediately after we mark Simchat Torah - a festive celebration of the cycle of Torah with singing, dancing, and much joy. After the attacks on Israel on this sacred day last year, perhaps for many of us, the restarting of our Torah cycle will mean something different. 

We read at the beginning of this portion:

וַיִּקְרָ֨א אֱלֹהִ֤ים ׀ לָאוֹר֙ י֔וֹם וְלַחֹ֖שֶׁךְ קָ֣רָא לָ֑יְלָה וַֽיְהִי־עֶ֥רֶב וַֽיְהִי־בֹ֖קֶר י֥וֹם אֶחָֽד׃ {פ}

God called the light Day and called the darkness Night. And there was evening and there was morning, a first day.

A first day, with sunrise and sunset. Since last Simchat Torah, each sunrise and sunset has felt more significant than ever, each day carrying more weight than the day before. I have found myself counting days - maybe you have too. Days since the attack. Days since the war began. Days since the hostages have been hidden away in Gaza. Days since some of them came home. Days since some of them were taken from us. With each sunrise and sunset, each bit of light and dark, we mark another difficult day. Especially during my trips to Israel, I watched as the sun came up over the sea and went down over the outline of Jerusalem. A morning and evening I shared with so many people in situations I couldn’t even fathom. Israelis displaced from their homes in the North and South, looking at a unfamiliar sunrises, starting their days in new places they didn’t want to be. Innocents in Gaza placed in harm’s way because of terrorism, hoping to see the sunset from a safe place. 

And for me, most of all, the hostages. I imagine many of them can’t see light and dark. Do they know it’s day? Do they know when it’s night? Do they know we are calling out for them? Do they know how much they are missed, and how we want them to come home now? 

And, with all these questions, each day continues to go by. There is morning and there is evening. There is sunshine and there is moonlight. Amidst it all, the steady rhythm of the Jewish calendar and Torah cycle marches on – Selichot, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Simchat Torah, Bereishit. We celebrate the happy moments in our lives - birthdays anniversaries, graduations - they are all part of our lives, even though this year has been so hard, and full of so many challenging moments, perhaps personally, and certainly for the Jewish people. All we can do is wake up each day, take steps to better our world, and look forward to the next bit of light, the next bit of day, we get to experience. 

There was light and there was darkness - a first day. May we all see a new type of first day soon - one of wholeness and peace. Am Yisrael Chai, and Shabbat Shalom.