Dear Friends,
“Remember this day…” (Ex. 13:3)
So commanded Moses to the Israelite people in Exodus, “The very day the Eternal freed the Israelites from the land of Egypt…” (Ex. 12:51)
There are moments in individual, communal and national lives, when images, themes and words demand to be remembered. When we departed Egypt, it was such a time, and is memorialized weekly in our prayers, annually at Passover and this week when we read this passage in Exodus.
So, too, every four years since 1789, the United States has experienced such inaugural moments which demand memory, some more so than others: Lincoln’s inaugurations, Roosevelt, Kennedy, Reagan. And, yesterday.
In the spirit of Moses’ words to the Israelites, the magnificent poem, “The Hill We Climb,” penned and orated by America’s first National Youth Poet Laureate, Amanda Gorman, added an unforgettable line to the lore and literature of America, and even sacred canon, as it offered this concluding verse”
“There is always light
If we are brave enough to see it
If we are brave enough to BE it!”
Pondering how Torah adds meaning to our own day, and how our own day adds meaning to Torah, these words from Ms. Gorman capture the admonition of Moses: Israelites – be brave enough to see the promised vision which God has set for you; and be brave enough to be the people which God expects of you!
Gorman’s words were nigh on biblical, and remind us that the true essence of Exodus is not that it happened in antiquity, but that it can offer its inspiration in every age. And, that in every age, we can add to its meaning, and find new moments and expressions which demand to be remembered.
“Remember this day…” (Ex. 13:3) …be brave enough to BE it!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
“Remember this day…” (Ex. 13:3)
So commanded Moses to the Israelite people in Exodus, “The very day the Eternal freed the Israelites from the land of Egypt…” (Ex. 12:51)
There are moments in individual, communal and national lives, when images, themes and words demand to be remembered. When we departed Egypt, it was such a time, and is memorialized weekly in our prayers, annually at Passover and this week when we read this passage in Exodus.
So, too, every four years since 1789, the United States has experienced such inaugural moments which demand memory, some more so than others: Lincoln’s inaugurations, Roosevelt, Kennedy, Reagan. And, yesterday.
In the spirit of Moses’ words to the Israelites, the magnificent poem, “The Hill We Climb,” penned and orated by America’s first National Youth Poet Laureate, Amanda Gorman, added an unforgettable line to the lore and literature of America, and even sacred canon, as it offered this concluding verse”
“There is always light
If we are brave enough to see it
If we are brave enough to BE it!”
Pondering how Torah adds meaning to our own day, and how our own day adds meaning to Torah, these words from Ms. Gorman capture the admonition of Moses: Israelites – be brave enough to see the promised vision which God has set for you; and be brave enough to be the people which God expects of you!
Gorman’s words were nigh on biblical, and remind us that the true essence of Exodus is not that it happened in antiquity, but that it can offer its inspiration in every age. And, that in every age, we can add to its meaning, and find new moments and expressions which demand to be remembered.
“Remember this day…” (Ex. 13:3) …be brave enough to BE it!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
