D'Var Torah for Shabbat of Passover from Rabbi Douglas Kohn
Dear Friends,
Firstly, a Chag Sameach to everyone from Susan and me!
“Oh, let me behold Your Presence!” (Exodus 33:18)
Our Torah reading for the Shabbat of Passover is a special reading, not describing the biblical Passover, the plagues and the exodus from Egypt, but rather the section immediately following the Golden Calf incident. Why? The rabbis who organized the annual cycle of Torah readings saw that the Israelites were in a very tenuous position following both our exit from Egypt, and the apostacy at the Golden Calf. One event preceded our coming to Sinai to get the Tablets, and one was during that dramatic epiphany. Yet, both moments were linked by a yearning for God’s nearness, hence our verse:
“Oh, let me behold Your Presence!”
We learn that whenever our people – and perhaps any people – are in distress and even dire straits, there results a natural yearning for God’s nearness and Presence. God is thought to be absent; hence the distress. And, this wasn’t only in biblical days.
-- When the Romans destroyed the Temple, our forebears feared that not only was God’s place burnt and leveled, but that God’s Presence must also have been lost.
-- During the Inquisition, our people struggled for a sense of the Divine.
-- In the camps, our people questioned God’s Presence, and even God’s existence.
Thus, today, when we read the special section from the Torah for Passover, we can readily identify and relate to the seeming abdication and the fear of abandonment. When the world seems to have been overrun by a tiny, invisible molecule which has the capacity to render breathing difficult and life fragile, we can join with our ancestors and wonder about the Presence of the Eternal.
Is this truly God’s world? Is this really the way of the Divine?
It might look otherwise, until we look more deeply, just as Moses did 3000 years ago. Just as God showed God’s goodness, that God was compassionate and gracious, abounding in kindness and faithfulness, forgiving iniquity and sin, so too do we see another side of God’s world: doctors and nurses working in hazardous conditions, restaurants delivering food to fire stations, teachers working all night to prepare virtual lessons, musicians offering fundraising concerts, and even our own endeavors to adjust to a completely different kind of Passover. There is much, much majesty and generosity filling God’s world!
I think, if we look past the initial worry and concern, God’s Presence is pretty obvious!
Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
Dear Friends,
Firstly, a Chag Sameach to everyone from Susan and me!
“Oh, let me behold Your Presence!” (Exodus 33:18)
Our Torah reading for the Shabbat of Passover is a special reading, not describing the biblical Passover, the plagues and the exodus from Egypt, but rather the section immediately following the Golden Calf incident. Why? The rabbis who organized the annual cycle of Torah readings saw that the Israelites were in a very tenuous position following both our exit from Egypt, and the apostacy at the Golden Calf. One event preceded our coming to Sinai to get the Tablets, and one was during that dramatic epiphany. Yet, both moments were linked by a yearning for God’s nearness, hence our verse:
“Oh, let me behold Your Presence!”
We learn that whenever our people – and perhaps any people – are in distress and even dire straits, there results a natural yearning for God’s nearness and Presence. God is thought to be absent; hence the distress. And, this wasn’t only in biblical days.
-- When the Romans destroyed the Temple, our forebears feared that not only was God’s place burnt and leveled, but that God’s Presence must also have been lost.
-- During the Inquisition, our people struggled for a sense of the Divine.
-- In the camps, our people questioned God’s Presence, and even God’s existence.
Thus, today, when we read the special section from the Torah for Passover, we can readily identify and relate to the seeming abdication and the fear of abandonment. When the world seems to have been overrun by a tiny, invisible molecule which has the capacity to render breathing difficult and life fragile, we can join with our ancestors and wonder about the Presence of the Eternal.
Is this truly God’s world? Is this really the way of the Divine?
It might look otherwise, until we look more deeply, just as Moses did 3000 years ago. Just as God showed God’s goodness, that God was compassionate and gracious, abounding in kindness and faithfulness, forgiving iniquity and sin, so too do we see another side of God’s world: doctors and nurses working in hazardous conditions, restaurants delivering food to fire stations, teachers working all night to prepare virtual lessons, musicians offering fundraising concerts, and even our own endeavors to adjust to a completely different kind of Passover. There is much, much majesty and generosity filling God’s world!
I think, if we look past the initial worry and concern, God’s Presence is pretty obvious!
Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
