Justice is something we talk about a great deal. We, as Jews, are fighters for a just world. We’re actively pushing for a world where wrongs are made right. In the words of the prophet Isiah: “Let every valley be raised, every hill and mount made low. Let the crooked be made straight. And the ridges become a plain”. (Isiah 40:4) These words are so clear and instructive to us, the pain of those in the depths need to be relieved. We must help people overcome burdens that seem insurmountable. The things in this world that aren’t right are our responsibility to make right. These are the meanings behind this verse. It calls on us to fight for our world. This vision of the world didn’t begin with the Prophets but rather it began in the תורה/Torah. We find throughout the תורה we’re not to afflict the stranger, we’re not to keep but to return lost objects to their owners, and we’re not allowed to show favor to the rich and powerful, or the poor and unpowerful. All of these are justice values in our tradition. We’re not permitted to give up on any of these values.
We have a sacred obligation to fulfill the words of פרקי אבות/Pirkei Avot: “לֹא עָלֶיךָ הַמְּלָאכָה לִגְמֹר, וְלֹא אַתָּה בֶן חוֹרִין לִבָּטֵל מִמֶּנָּה/It is not your responsibility to complete the task but you cannot stop trying". (פרקי אבות 2:16) We live in a world that’s beyond any single one of us to repair by ourselves but we’re not allowed to stop trying to fix it. Individuals can and do have an impact in this world, and yet we all know we’ll never complete this sacred work alone… we need our community. The idea of not being allowed to stop trying is the recognition that we all know we’ll never get this task done, but we won’t stop trying until our dying breath.
The number 10 is a sacred number to our people. 10 commandments, 10 plagues, 10 generations from Adam to Noah and from Noah to Abraham, and of course the number of people it takes to make a minyan… 10. In thinking about the idea of minyan, we recall the number for that sacred act is derived from the 10 faithless spies who said we couldn’t conquer the Land of Israel. Whenever we gather a minyan to pray, we undo their damage. Gathering and being together is a sacred thing to do.
As I think about the number 10 and making a minyan right now, I think of a group of people who shouldn’t be linked together at all. On October 7th, two people were working as bartenders at a music festival in Israel (Alexander Lobanov and Eden Yerushalmi). One person went to the music festival with his girlfriend who was murdered (Almog Sarusi), two others went to the festival to have a good time and ended up saving numerous lives with their bravery (Ori Danino and Hersh Goldberg-Polin), and one person went to her childhood kibbutz to visit her mother who was murdered in front of her (Carmel Gat). These six souls were kidnapped and held captive in the depths of hell for over 300 days only to be murdered by their captors. They did nothing to their captors to be held against their will and they did nothing to be murdered, and yet they are gone. Six souls. Yesterday morning two teachers (Richard Aspinwall and Christina Irimie), and two 14-year-old kids (Christian Angulo and Mason Schermerhorn), went to their school, Apalachee High School here in Georgia, and never went home. They did nothing to warrant being murdered. They were at their school and yet now they’re gone. These 10 sacred souls are gone because of the hatred and terror of one group, and because of the out of control culture of gun violence. They might feel very disconnected to some, but to me they’re two sides of the same coin: Victims of injustice in our world.
פרשת שופטים/Parshat Shoftim, is about the justice system and the need for a world that’s rooted in justice. The famous verse צדק צדק תרדף/Justice… Justice… you shall pursue (דברים 16:20) is found here and it reminds us justice can only come through just means and we all have a sacred obligation to go out and make justice happen. We cannot sit back and wait for the opportunity to appear. We must be shouting from the rooftops and demanding justice for Hamas’ six innocent victims. Hamas is a terrorist organization without any morality or belief in the humanity of anyone other than themselves. Any attempt to humanize them, or lend their terror some sort of moral equivalency, is only enabling them and is morally bankrupt. The world must be unafraid to call a spade a spade, and to call their terror terrorism. Anything less is not just, and not helpful, in the pursuit of justice. The four victims of the school shooter need justice. In fact, all students and teachers need justice. The fact that schools have become battle fields is a deep wound in the fabric of America. It’s a national epidemic, tragedy and something no amount of atonement will ever fix. We have to take a deep look in the mirror and recognize we’re all guilty for what we’ve allowed to become of our society. A culture of violence, a media glorifying that culture, a mental health pandemic we refuse to acknowledge or provide adequate access to help, a system that refuses to discuss access to firearms and ammunition, a culture of division that refuses to accept we don’t have the answers and that we need to learn to listen. I’m tired of thoughts and prayers. We need to pursue justice. The recipe each of us thinks is the right solution isn’t going to work. We all need to work together and address every aspect of this pandemic. Only then will we begin to find a way out of this self-inflicted wound.
10 people did nothing to deserve losing their lives. 10 people aren’t home with their families because we have much work to do. We have to demand justice and pledge ourselves to that justice so we can begin to build a world that’s worthy of having God in it and is worthy of the holiness that were these 10 people stolen from us.
May all their memories be a blessing. Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Hearshen
Shabbat Together Shabbat, Apr 12th 10:30a to 11:30a Join us for our new Kavanagh Minyan & Children's Services the second Saturday each month. Following these services, we'll join the group in the Sanctuary for Rabbi Hearshen's sermon followed by Kiddush lunch.
It’s as easy as:
Inviting your friends and family for Shabbat Dinner, Taking a few photos, Sharing the photos with OVS & One Table And... Receiving a stipend for each person at your dinner.
Passover Picnic & a Walk in the Park Tuesday, Apr 15th 11:30a to 1:00p Bring your own picnic lunch and catch up your OVS friends. Join us for a walk along the boardwalk after we eat.
Exact location will be emailed prior to the picnic. Free of charge.
Sephardic Dinner to Go Thursday, May 1st 2:00p to 4:00p Dinner To Go includes 1 dozen burekas (potato, spinach or rice, while supplies last), 1 quart Avas (tomato based white bean soup), 1 quart rice, tossed garden salad and 6 biscochos. Pre-orders only by Monday, April 28.
Building Blocks Sunday School 2025-2026 Sunday, Aug 17th 9:00a to 12:00p Building Blocks Sunday School at Congregation Or VeShalom is for children ages 2 - 12. Areas of focus include prayer, Jewish holidays, Jewish values, modern Hebrew, Hebrew reading, Israel, and Sephardic Jewish culture.
