Shabbat Blast

 Dear  CBO Friends,

This Shabbat, there is a metaphor that helps me understand the Jewish people in the climate of rising anti semitism. We see that particular attention is brought to olive oil. Olive oil was the magic substance in the Ancient Near East. It was used for lighting candles, cosmetics, food, and for rituals. The Jewish people are thought to be like an olive tree. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levy taught “Why is Israel said to be like the olive tree? To tell you that even as the leaves of an olive tree fall neither during the summer nor during the rainy season, so Israel will never cease to be, not in this world nor in the hereafter” (Talmud, Menachot 53B). Whether the climate around us is favorable or hostile, warm of cool, we do not waver.

Whether the attacks to the Jewish people come in the form of rockets from Gaza, or miscreants knocking the hats off of our Jewish brothers in Borough Park, we stand firmly for our right to live in peace. When denigration is overt or more subtle, our nuanced ability to read between the lines tells us not to let things go.
 
We do not abandon our Jewishness because of the senseless and ignorant hatred of others. In fact, perhaps, when we are pressed, we become more resourceful. Like the olive which produces oil, when we feel the pressure we speak up. We reach towards one another, and we push forward. We do not wither. We don’t just survive, we dig deeper.

Like the olive, when pressed, the result brings more light into the world. We remind those that hate for one is hate for all. The olive tree, like the Jewish people, is ancient. Olive trees that existed thousands of years ago still produce fruit today. If that isn’t the perfect metaphor for the Jewish people, I don’t know what is.
 
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Bernstein
 

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