From Rabbi Dahlia Bernstein Friday, March 19, 2021
Dear CBO Family,
We are one week away from Pesach and Shabbat Hagadol, literally “the Big Shabbat.” On Shabbat morning, we will delve into the reasons why this is "bigger" than any other Shabbat. I could not wait to share some of the mysteries behind this name because I know they can help us put recent events and the year-long experience of Covid-19 into a new mindset.
This past week, we witnessed a horrific shooting of multiple spas in Atlanta. The world has seen so much death in the last year and while shootings have always disturbed me, seeing them against the background of the year behind us makes me even sicker. Will there ever be an end to this madness?
The appearance of Shabbat Haggadol can give us something to hold onto. According to a midrash, during their slavery in Egypt Bnei Yisrael did not work on shabbat. However, immediately following shabbat they would need to return to work (there's a parallel expression in the Israeli army - "every shabbat has a motzei shabbat," since soldiers can't be punished on shabbat itself, but after Shabbat they are fair game). However, on this shabbat, Bnei Yisrael were no longer slaves, so they didn't need to fear returning to their labors. This was a Shabbat that moved into freedom.
This teaching gives me just enough breath to hold on for that freedom we are all looking for. We sometimes recite on Shabbat mornings the Prayer for Peace:
“May we see the day when war and bloodshed cease, When a great peace will embrace the whole world. Then nation will not threaten nation, And [humanity] will not again know war. For all who live on earth shall realize We have not come into being to hate or to destroy. We have come into being to praise, to labor, and to love. Compassionate God, bless the leaders of all nations With the power of compassion. Fulfill the promise conveyed in Scripture: I will bring peace to the Land, And you shall lie down, and no one shall terrify you. I will rid the Land of vicious beasts And it shall not be ravaged by war. Let love and justice flow like a mighty stream. Let peace fill the earth as the waters fill the sea. And let us say: Amen.”
We never stop striving for peace. We never stop striving for health. While the people of Israel definitely faced challenges after they left Egypt, they knew a new freedom. As we experience the changes that come with more vaccinations, may we look for the moment of Shabbat Hagadol, the Shabbat when we realize that it will end with a new sense of freedom. May this apply to both the illnesses of the body as well as the illnesses of the soul that lead mad-people to perpetrate heinous acts of violence. May we not again know bloodshed. And let us say: Amen
Shabbat Shalom. Rabbi Bernstein
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