November 6, 2024
Dear Friends,
Many of us woke up this morning to a sense of dread and the return to a reality that many had struggled to put behind us. We are a divided country and “a house divided.” For the third presidential election in a row, half our nation celebrates while half of us mourn. Personally I ask if I recognize the country that I live in, love, and offered my grandparents, parents and myself so much.
I have written and spoken before about the legendary sign over the shtibel of the Kotzker Rebbe, “Jews Don’t Despair.” We read in our prayerbook that “Standing on the parted shores of history we still believe… that there is a…promised land.” The only way to get to that “better place” is by “marching together.” Today and tomorrow are days to help each other. Hug a friend. Phone your family. Tell someone that you love them. Hold the hand of the person who is overwhelmed.
Now more than ever we treasure and remain committed to what we love at Temple Micah, our truest values of Torah that celebrate diversity; respect difference; support community; welcome the stranger; support the poor and the weak; work for justice for the oppressed; and recognize the image of God in people of every race, religion, and ethnic background.
As a Temple Micah community, when we see those values under threat, we will continue to be the ones to speak out, and we will urge others to join their voices to ours. We will not lose sight of our vision for a future that we all can believe in.
This coming Shabbat we will gather as a Micah community to pray, join hands, and give voice to the deepest and noblest yearnings of our Jewish spirit. May love overcome fear. May hope overcome despair. And may our community always be a source of wisdom, comfort and strength for us, wherever we are.
The mantra of our people is “Od lo avda tikvateinu-We have not yet lost our hope.” Continue to sing this in your heart.
Shalom,
Rabbi Daniel G. Zemel