Parshat Behaalotecha teaches us that “when you kindle the lamps, towards the face of the Menorah shall the seven lamps cast light.”[1] Each of these lights, whether on the right or the left, faces towards the center. It demonstrates that each light joins together to form a greater light than each can do separately. That is the case with us as well-we need to join together to support one another and demonstrate that what unites us is greater than what divides us.

This week we observe Juneteenth, the commemoration of slaves in Galveston, Texas finding out that they were freed in 1865. We also have a holiday celebrating freedom from slavery-Passover.  In college at UW-Madison, I took a course on Black-Jewish Relations that centered on the community of Brownsville, Brooklyn. It was fascinating to learn about how Black-Jewish relations have changed over time. I also learned firsthand from Jews of Color, being mentored by Rabbi Capers Funnye of the Israelite congregation in Chicago (first time I ever gave a D’var Torah and people shouted “Amen Brother!”), in working with Jews for Racial and Economic Justice and in being part of the Rabbinical Assembly’s Racial Justice Committee.

          As we celebrate the abolition of slavery, we need to remember that there remain those adversely affected by slavery even as we approach 160 years since the anniversary of Juneteenth. We must keep this in mind as our state senate passed three reparations bills a number of weeks ago. The senate has agreed to “issue an apology to Black Californians for the state’s role in instituting slave laws and discriminatory practices since its founding.”[2] As we move forward as a society, let us recognize the mistakes made in the past and as such may we work together towards a brighter future.

[1] Numbers 8:1

[2] https://www.foxnews.com/media/california-state-senate-passes-three-reparations-bills-apologizing-slavery-debt-owed

I learned with great excitement about the rescue of 4 hostages at the Neseirat camp in Gaza. I learned in the podcast Call Me Back that while the rescue of Noam Argamani went off without a hitch, the rescues of Shlomi Ziv Almog Meir Jan and Andrey Kozlov were met with great challenge and needed extra Israeli forces to come in to ensure its success. Thanks to Israeli soldiers who came in when the truck carrying Israeli special units and 3 of the hostages got stuck in order to make the rescue.

I feel for Meir Jan’s father who died of a heart attack just hours before the army arrived to deliver the news of his son’s rescue. At the same time, we saw the pure joy in the embrace of Noa Argamani and her father. Life is bittersweet, and we saw examples of both the bitter and the sweet with last week’s rescue operation.

We also saw secular Israelis enter into synagogues on Shabbat to inform religious Jews of this amazing rescue effort. It was a Fauda-like operation, with Avi Issacharov saying, “This is beyond belief” and if he tried to write this into a scene for Fauda it would have been unbelievable.

Due to the complexity of such an effort, it is unlikely to be repeated. This is because of the challenges of urban warfare, needing to make simulations with models of the buildings, weeks of preparations and strategy sessions and catching Hamas by surprise with a daytime attack, as well as multiple factors needing to line up. We pray for a hostage deal in which all Israeli hostages are released-and if not possible, for Israel to do everything it can to eradiacate Hamas and set the hostages free.

Please check out Rabbi Taff’s article in The Times of Israel about Arnon serving with his nephew https://www.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-806269