I’ve been thinking about the Frozen song Into the Unknown where Elsa needs to enter into uncharted territory. That reminds me of three momentous events connected to today. First is Parshat Lech Lecha. Abram and Sarai have to venture from all they have ever known into uncharted territory. All they have to go on is that God, who to the best of our knowledge they have never encountered directly before, will bless them. They need to take a leap of faith and move forward.

Today is also 5 years from a date which will live in infamy, October 28, 2018-the massacre at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. We were all in shock by that brutal atrocities not because it could happen but because it did. The Sacramento Jewish community had lived through the fire-bombing of 3 synagogues 18 years prior yet for a gunman to come into a synagogue and massacre 11 innocent souls was unimaginable. What a horrific event for which the only justice is that the murderer, Robert Bowers, was sentenced to death just under 3 months ago.

          This brings us to the present day, October 28, 2023, 3 weeks removed from the Black Sabbath of October 7 where over 1400 Israelis were murdered. This was also unthinkable: paragliding over the separation barrier, storming into peoples’ homes and kibbutzim, and a murderous rampage at the Tribe of Nova desert rave with peace-loving activists. Now Israel is facing a ground invasion. Like many of you I hope Israel will go in and eradicate Hamas. We do have to realize that it is uncharted territory. Since the Second Gaza War in 2014 numerous tunnels have been added, more homes have been booby-trapped and this time, unlike before, there are over 200 hostages deep in the crevices of the tunnels.

Thousands of years ago God promised our ancestors, the first Hebrews, that if they completely left their way of life and all they had been taught, that God would make of them a great nation. We must have the same faith today. However long it takes, we must stand with Israel as she enters into new territory and we must pray that it be for blessing. It’s an extremely difficult and uncomfortable position to be in to say the least, just as it must have been for our ancestors Abram and Sarai, yet only by entering into the unknown, especially at times which are against our will, can we accomplish what is necessary. Ken Yhi Ratzon, may it be so.

          Parshat Noah directly speaks to what occurred two weeks ago. If there’s  a portion that says דרשני-create for me a Midrash to speak to this situation, this is it.

          Three connections between this parsha and the situation in Israel. First is the line וַתִּמָּלֵ֥א הָאָ֖רֶץ חָמָֽס, the land was full of evil.[1] Naming the evil in our world is the first step in addressing it. Decapitating babies is pure evil. Killing hundreds of peace-loving activists in cold blood is pure evil. Abducting 200 people from their land, many from their homes, by putting a gun to their heads is pure evil. Noah also lived in a world full of evil that had to be wiped out by the Great Flood.

          How do we wipe out the evil in our midst? One way is to try to uproot the Hamas, the evil, from Gaza. Yet how do we do it here in Sacramento, where as the great poet Yehudah HaLevi said, לבי במזרח ואנכי בסוף המערב “My heart is in the east but I am at the edge of the west.”[2] A start in doing so is to follow Rabbi Yehuda Leib Alter of Ger in his book Sfat Emet. On this very Parshah he teaches שבת קדש כמו תיבת נח, “the Holy Sabbath is like Noah’s Ark.”[3] By developing a Shabbat practice of leaving the rat race of life, taking a break to focus on what is truly important-our families, our health and our well-being, we will be able to better respond to the current crisis or trauma at hand. If we are glued to CNN or Fox News 24/7 for the latest development, rather than taking things in moderation and focusing on ourselves and our families, in Israel as well as abroad, we will burn out. Israel is in this for the long haul. We will hear tomorrow from our former Rabbi, Yossi Goldman, as well as former congregants who have moved to Israel, promptly at 10:00 am in KOH.

          The final step I learned from my teacher, Rabbi Jordan Bendat-Appell. He taught me that “you need to build your ark” so that when the storm comes you are prepared. One cannot be prepared for every situation-the crisis of two Shabbatot ago which continues to pervade us, bringing fear, uncertainty and trauma, was not something we could have anticipated. What Rabbi Bendat-Appell is talking about in building an ark is that we have to practice building resilience, being able to be present with what is even when it is ugly, repugnant or abhorrent.  The more we can flex that muscle, the stronger the foundations of our ark will be and the better prepared we will be to weather the storms of our lives.

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[1] Genesis 6:11

[2] Judah HaLevi, “My Heart is in the East”

[3] Sefat Emet, Noah 3, 1873 (תרל”ג)

          In June 2021 I went to Kfar Aza along with Miami rabbis as part of a solidarity mission to Israel following Operation Guardian of the Walls. We met with Ofer Libstein, mayor of the Sha’ar HaNegev Regional Council. We were in the home of Chen, who took us around and who showed us the rockets and grenades that had landed nearby her home. The day ended with a prayer from one of the rabbis saying “We live in a constant state of channeling Yehuda HaLevi לבנו במזרח ואנחנו בסוף המערב-our hearts are in the east and we are at the ends of the west” and concluded with a prayer for peace.

          How poignant HaLevi’s words are today when we see the massacre of 40 babies, many of whom were decapitated, along with women and the elderly-dozens of bodies for the entire world to see. Ofir was killed by gunfire when he was attempting to protect a kibbutz. Chen is alive but shaken to her core-her kibbutz where she took care of children, developed agriculture and lived in community with so many is now in ruins and quarantined off from the world. People’s lives, people’s belongings are spread out across their lawns. They have been blown out of their houses by explosives. The security fence is in pieces, rammed through and enabling Hamas terrorists to enter. Major General Itai Veruv said, “I’ve never seen anything like this in my career, never in 40 years of service; this is something I never imagined.”

          What can we do here in the Diaspora, when we are so far away? One thing is to tell these stories, to show that we will never forget. Another is to attempt contact with Israelis, both those living in the Holy Land and those in our communities, to show that they are constantly on our minds, that our hearts bleed with the wanton spilling of Jewish blood. A third is to be vigilant at this difficult time while concurrently not letting antisemites and those who are anti-Israel scare us into hiding. This is a time to be proud of who we are and to stand proudly with Israel. To the people of Israel and Kfar Aza-I am in the west but my heart is in the east.