This week we read about Parshat Korach, Moses’ Levite cousin who leads a deeply threatening rebellion against the leadership of Moses and Aaron.

This week we read Parshat Naso.

Who carries the debt, the responsibility, of the nation? “And G!d spoke to Moses saying ‘lift up each of the descendants of Gershon’…”. And later “V’Nasu, they shall 'carry' the Tabernacle’s tapestries, the skin cloths, and drapes…etc”.

This Thursday evening begins Shavuot, the first harvest festival and the commemoration of our people’s receiving Torah at Sinai.

It troubles me that so many Jews do not know it is Shavuot. While it is one of the three major pilgrimage festivals along with Pesach and Sukkot, it does not have the recognition that Pesach does, nor Sukkot.

There’s a lot of organizing to do. “Let’s get the job done” repeated Joe Biden numerous times to Congress and the country last night.

In Parshat Yitro this week we hear, once again, another State of the Union address. Moses is rallying the nation behind God and the promise of the Covenant at Sinai. His advisors, lead by Yitro, his father-in-law and Midianite monotheist priest, advise him on how to organize to “get the job done.” Read the Parsha!

The Parsha this week is well worth a read. It is Lech L’cha, Genesis 12-17. The narration is about Avram’s life from the age of 75 to the age of 99. How years were determined in those times makes for an interesting discussion. What’s really significant about the narrative is the journey that Avram, and Sarai, embark on, establishing themselves in the land of Canaan, the vision they shared and the challenges they faced.

Some of us have been watching Ken Burn’s documentary, The U.S. and the Holocaust. I’ve seen many documentaries and films about the Holocaust over the years, but none as vivid, as disturbing and as thoughtful as this. Along with daily news about the atrocities committed by Russia to the people of Ukraine, I have been numbed witnessing “man’s inhumanity to man.”

Given the assault on our justice system, the FBI and federal judges, not to mention other democratic institutions, this week’s Parsha, Shoftim, couldn’t be more right on.

“18 Appoint judges and officials for each of your tribes in every town the Eternal your God is giving you, and they shall judge the people fairly. 19 Do not pervert justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the innocent. 20 Follow justice and justice alone, so that you may live and possess the land the Eternal your God is giving you.”

Busy week at Sanctuary and in Am Kolel. Our roof shingles at Sanctuary, after some 25 years are being replaced. It's pretty dramatic to see ten workers on the roof of this old farm house. Fortunately, insurance is paying for most of it due to wind damage.

Our hearts are heavy with the news of a gunman killing nineteen children and two adults in Uvalde, Texas. Many of us are furious over the inability of our leaders to pass stronger gun control laws. What will it take for our leaders to wake up? Many have children and grandchildren. Don’t they care? And what can we do?

Many of our sages have discussed how we face loss and tragedy in our personal and communal life.

This week’s Parshat Shmini contains a horrific incident that introduces this subject. It is the story of Nadav and Avihu, two sons of Aaron, who seize an opportunity to enter the newly constructed Mishkan, come before the altar and present “alien” fire before God. We sense that they were inspired, excited and overly fired up with the dedication of the Mishkan and their special role in the sacrificial cult. They also, as we learn, were intoxicated. God, not pleased at all, sends a fire and consumes them! Let it be noted that their bodies and robes are not consumed. One might say they burned up from within. Their souls were consumed.

With all the strife in our world we welcome the teachings of Tetzaveh, Exodus 27:20-30:10) this week.

The word Tetzaveh, from the root Tzav, implies “connection.” It is also in the word Mitzvah, right actions that connect us to each other and the Life-force of the universe.

I came down with the omicron variant about 10 days ago. Thankfully, it was a mild case. It seems increasingly apparent that we will need to live with these variants for a long time. So many family members and people we know have it or have had it. The new normal?

Va’Yechi, “and Jacob lived in the land of Mitzrayim seventeen years….”

We notice that it doesn’t say “ and Jacob dwelled - VaYeshev - in the land of Egypt...”. The wording, VaYechi, implies he "lived fully" there, reunited with his son, Joseph, and seeing the reconciliation between his children. Jacob now prepares to die. What we see in this Parsha is how he approaches death and the meaningfulness of his final words to his children. In his last days or hours Jacob is both the father and the prophet. Clearly, he put a lot of thought into what he would say. Our anonymous biblical editor certainly did.

As we take leave of the summer months and the recent Yom Tovim, I am, especially, moved by our people’s resilience during this season. I want to express my gratitude to the Kehila’s High Holiday Committee and Charlie Pilzer for planning hybrid services. It seems that hybrid is the future, even after, G!d willing, the pandemic is over.

Anyone watching the House Hearings yesterday had to be moved by the testimonies of the four officers. These hearings took too long in coming. Let’s hope these slow turning wheels of justice will result in an outcome that can restore and, hopefully, help heal this nation.

Last week many Jews commemorated Tisha B’Av, a day marking several tragedies in Jewish history. Each of those tragedies, whether the destruction of Jerusalem, the expulsion from Spain, pogroms and the adoption of the Final Solution (August 2, 1941) have caused untold suffering to our people. But, yet, mir zeinen do, we are still here. Choose life, teaches our Torah! What is the source of our resilience?

Bilaam is a desert prophet, a monotheist, trying his best to minister to the nations. However, when Balak, king of Moab, felt threatened by the Israelites passing through his country on the way to Canaan, he bribes Bilaam to curse them. Bilaam saddles his donkey and sets out on the mission, but experiences, in a strange, the wrongness of his mission. Can a prophet of God bend to political pressure?

With spring around the corner, crocuses and daffodils peaking through, hope is in the air. We can also breathe a little more easily, with million of others, with the passage of the COVID Relief Stimulus Bill.

Did you hear the news?! The Israeli government and the PA have agreed to the terms for creating a Palestinian state! Check out the Washington Toast tomorrow morning!

This past Shabbat, known as Shabbat Shira, we learned of the death of Flory Jagoda, a modern day Miriam who lead her people in song for decades. She was 97. Here are some of the words I spoke at her funeral this past Monday morning at King David Cemetery:

We very much appreciate our members, friends and readers. May this coming year be a blessed one for us all. Our December Appeal, so necessary for Am Kolel to exist, is still short of reaching our goal. We’re close. Our major donors have been most generous. So many of you, members and friends, have donated. For those who have not, there is still a window. It’s okay if we receive your gift after January 1.