I heard the reports of the arrests this morning as I made my challah: four men held on suspicion of espionage against the Jewish community. I imagine there is much fear today. Our task right now is finding the balance between paralysis and suspicion, maintaining a weathered steadiness. We are committed to navigating this sensibly.
Our Security Lead is working closely with authorities to ensure we remain safe, vigilant and careful. He wrote to you yesterday, asking you to join our collective efforts to ensure that we are doing the right things.
This week’s Torah portion, Ki Tissa, tells the unsettling story of the Golden Calf. The Israelites panic when their leader, Moses, is delayed. They simply cannot cope without his presence and guidance. There is a palpable leadership vacuum:
וַיַּ֣רְא הָעָ֔ם כִּֽי־בֹשֵׁ֥שׁ מֹשֶׁ֖ה לָרֶ֣דֶת מִן־הָהָ֑ר וַיִּקָּהֵ֨ל הָעָ֜ם עַֽל־אַהֲרֹ֗ן וַיֹּאמְר֤וּ אֵלָיו֙ ק֣וּם ׀ עֲשֵׂה־לָ֣נוּ אֱלֹהִ֗ים אֲשֶׁ֤ר יֵֽלְכוּ֙ לְפָנֵ֔ינוּ כִּי־זֶ֣ה ׀ מֹשֶׁ֣ה הָאִ֗ישׁ אֲשֶׁ֤ר הֶֽעֱלָ֙נוּ֙ מֵאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם לֹ֥א יָדַ֖עְנוּ מֶה־הָ֥יָה לֽוֹ׃
When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, the people gathered against Aaron and said to him, “Come, make us a god who shall go before us, for we do not know what has happened to Moses, the man who brought us from the land of Egypt.”
This impatience, panic and worry, this sense of being untethered and afraid, is surely familiar to us all right now. We don’t need to melt our jewellery but we do need reassurance, however incomplete. We are remaining vigilant and careful, while refusing to go down the path of paranoia or suspicion of everyone and everything. It is a difficult path to negotiate but doing so is in the DNA of FPS and we will keep working hard at it. Shabbat here is the centre of synagogue life and this moment of madness in Torah is book-ended by references to Shabbat – and in particular, to how God was refreshed by it.
And on the seventh day, [God] rested and was re-souled. (Ex. 31:17)
I hope we will lean into that re-souling, refreshing ourselves by being together. Tomorrow, (which also marks International Women’s Day) I’ll remind our children and ourselves of the leaders who have inspired and led us. We will also reflect on what being part of the Jewish community, and FPS in particular, means to all of us when the stakes are high.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rebecca
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