Our urgent challenge today
* Translated by Janine Muller Sherr
The challenge that Yitzhak faces in this week’s parasha is the exact same challenge we are facing today, which, on the surface, may not seem particularly exciting. Today our challenge is to rebuild--not to establish something new but to repair what has been broken.
After the dramatic story of Avraham Avinu and Sarah Imeinu initiating a spiritual awakening in the world, it is time for the next generation to take action. Yitzhak’s task is not to spark a new revolution, but to continue in his parents’ ways: to find meaning through work, dedication, and perseverance. Avraham hears the divine command “lech lecha –Go forth” and sets out on a journey, while Yitzchak never even leaves the land of Israel. Avraham digs wells and finds water, while Yitzhak struggles with enemies who try to undo his father’s work.
“And the Philistines stopped up all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of his father Abraham, filling them with earth.”
In my view, this is one of the most frustrating verses in the entire Torah. Avraham had toiled to find water which was a source of blessing for everyone in the region. So why would the Philistines stop up these wells with earth? Why would they want to harm themselves? The Philistines remind us so much of our enemies today.
Then there is Yitzhak’s response to their destructive behavior, which is described in a subsequent verse - one of the most encouraging verses in the Torah: “Isaac dug anew the wells which had been dug in the days of his father Abraham and which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham’s death; and he gave them the same names that his father had given them.” When Yitzhak gives the ruined wells the same names that his father had given them, he wants to communicate the importance of continuity. His response in the wake of this destruction was to rebuild and to begin anew.
This is precisely our challenge in Israel today: to reestablish the communities in the north and the south. If we can embody the tenacious spirit of our patriarchs and matriarchs, we will be able to move forward after this crisis.
Our parasha ends on a note of optimism. The Philistines finally stop harassing Yitzhak and begin to understand who is in charge. Yitzhak continues to toil and with each well that he digs up he discovers more sweet water, more blessings, and a deeper sense of tranquility. With God’s help, may this happen to us, Yitzhak’s descendants, soon.
Higher!
Sheryl Sandberg asked all the Jewish leaders in the hall at the General Assembly in Washington, DC to do an experiment. "Everyone, raise your hand as high as you can."
They raised their hands, and then she said: "Now an inch higher" Each person managed to lift their hand higher. "Look at that, when we think we’ve done all that we can we can do more, and we do and we have!”
If Sandberg symbolizes what is happening now to our brethren in the diaspora, we are on the right path. This phenomenon has already been given a name: "The Jews of October 8th", the Jews who woke up the day after. She is a billionaire, former COO of "Meta", responsible for the film "Screams Before Silence" that documented Hamas' abuse of women on October 7th.
"The silence [from the women's organizations and the world in general] was deafening," she said on stage. "All the work we did together for years for women, it was as if none of that had ever happened."
The events of that Simchat Torah fundamentally changed her, not in a negative sense, but precisely positively. “In the past, I was often asked: Are you a Jewish-American or an American-Jew ? Which part of your identity comes first? Since October 7th, I sit on the stage as a different person, in the sense that Jewish is an important part of my identity as anything else. I sit on this stage as a proud Zionist and a proud Jew, in a way I wouldn’t have a year and a half ago.
She asked the audience not to focus only on antisemitism, hypocrisy, and anti-Israel sentiment, not just on "what not" but on "what yes". Sandberg quoted Bari Weiss saying that “our identity as Jews has to be more rooted in Sinai than in Auschwitz, and that is true, because being Jewish is a wonderful thing. It is a tradition of charity, of caring about other people, of knowledge, of study, of family, of community.
Last January my daughter, I asked her what she wanted for her birthday. She wasn’t particularly affiliated but she said she wanted a Jewish Star, she’s worn it every day since then, so have I and so have my two other daughters. My middle daughter is president of the Jewish affinity club in her school. She wasn’t a member a year and a half ago! I am born again, and that has had some beautiful moments. I am part of this community in a different way.”
Will October 7th be recorded in history not only as a disaster, but also as a day of global Jewish awakening? Will we all succeed in raising our hand just a little more? Thank you, Sheryl.
Shabat Shalom.
Weekly Shiur in Hebrew
