Our hearts are with the people of Ukraine. We pray that Putin cease this outrageous aggression.
Our hearts are with the people of Ukraine. We pray that Putin cease this outrageous aggression. It is an aggression against humanity and democracy and the earth on which they also trample. It is a threat to all of us and, also, to Russian citizens themselves. A new Haman desecrates life and continues to hold onto the Golden Calf.
So many of us have roots in Ukraine. At services last Shabbat we discovered this. Our grandparents may have known it as part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Galitzia, Podolia, and part of Poland. Originally, It did not achieve “independence” until 1917 and that was short lived. Most of my grandparents lived in the Ukraine, two in Odessa. My paternal grandmother, as a new immigrant in a night school English class in New York, wrote about a pogrom that took place in her town. Some of us may recall how, in the 1600’s, thousands of Jews were murdered during the Chmielnizki pogroms.
In the early 1900’s one third of Ukraine was populated by Jews! In the early 1920’s Yiddish was declared one of the three official languages of Ukraine. The Nazis with the support of Ukrainian police and others murdered some 70% of the Jewish population. The country has a turmoiled history of repression, antisemitism as well as social progress. That a Jewish man, Volodymyr Zelensky, heads Ukraine’s government is evidence of a country that has embraced a new way forward. His spirit and the spirit of Ukrainians in fighting for their freedom is awesome and a lesson to all of us. We pray for their success and a speedy end to this horrific war.
Tomorrow we enter the second month of Adar. We celebrate Purim in two weeks. What kind of Purim will it be for us, for the people of Ukraine and the world? How can we celebrate when the forces of evil surround us? Purim is about joy and singing. We must hold onto our inner song. We do this by listening more closely. Purim reminds us to connect with the songs of life and nature, to be hopeful. Music and singing dispel darkness.
Purim is about getting to know your neighbors better with Shaloch Manos, gifts of pastry, and to provide for those in need, Matanot l’Evyonim. This past week Am Kolel and Kehila made contributions to Jewish communities in Ukraine through the Joint Distribution Committee. If you wish to contribute you can also do so on your own or send to the Am Kolel Tzedakah Fund.
This Shabbat, we also read the final Parsha in the Book of Exodus, Pekudey. It continue the elaborate detail of the making of the Mishkan, the sacred tent symbolically housing the Divine Presence. It also houses the Tablets of the Covenant. In the Aron HaKodesh are both the Broken Tablets and the new set of Tablets. Our ancestors, throughout our history have always carried both. So, too, with us.
May we support those in the Ukraine and those who struggle for democratic institutions everywhere. I invite you to light candles tonight and tomorrow night, these two days of Rosh Chodesh of Adar II, to affirm life and hope.
With blessings,
Reb David