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From the Rabbi:
Now that we have changed the clocks, Shabbat begins and ends quite early. Because of this, we're making a few changes to the Shabbat schedule. Please stick around for some learning and Mincha after Kiddush on Shabbat. This gives us the best chance of having a minyan for Mincha and allows people to enjoy what little afternoon is left of Shabbat. I hope this will also allow our community to make the most of our sacred time together.
Additionally, we'll daven Ma'ariv shortly after the conclusion of Shabbat. This means that you can drive back to shul for Ma'ariv and Havdala once Shabbat has ended. This week we have two members with yahrzeits on Motzei Shabbat and Sunday, so please make the effort to come, men and women alike. Shabbat ending early also means that Motzei Shabbat is an opportune time for more community connection, and following Havdalah we will have a little melave malka with Torah, singing and refreshments. Winter presents us with an opportunity to bond and deepen our connection to community, Shabbat, and Torah, and in turbulent times such as we may face, nothing can be more vital.
And speaking of turbulent times...
(Gen 15:12) "...a great dark dread descended upon [Avram]."
This week's parsha introduces us to a new "bad guy" who will serve as the primary antagonist of the Torah for the next two books: Pharaoh. We first meet our new frenemy when Avram descends to Egypt when a famine strikes the land of Canaan. Avram is so concerned with the depravity of Egypt and its despotic ruler that he tells Sarai his wife to pretend she's his sister, knowing full well that Pharoah will simply take any woman he desires and if necessary dispose of her husband. True to form, Pharaoh does just that, but thinking Sarai to be Avram's sister he gives Avram gifts, including his own daughter Hagar as a handmaiden as well as sheep, cattle, donkeys and camels, all of whom appear again in prominent roles as the book of Genesis progresses.
This parsha also sees us introduced to a non-Jewish "good guy" whose profound positive influence upon Avram is still celebrated as a central part of Jewish practice to this day. (Gen 14:18-22) After Avraham rescues Lot from captivity, Malchitzedek, king of Salem greets him, recognizing Avram's spiritual exaltedness and bequeaths to him his title of Kohen l'El Elyon, "Priest of The Supreme God," or perhaps "High Priest of God." He then "takes out Bread and Wine" and initiates Avram into the use of these two sacraments which we continue today with Kiddush and Hamotzi. Malchitzedeck also bestows great wealth upon Avram, giving him a tenth of all his possessions in perpetuity.
Whether our new President-Elect will turn out to be a Pharaoh or a Malchitzedek has yet to be seen. In today's highly polarized political environment there are those among us who are absolutely convinced of one or the other. Some are dancing in the streets while others don sackcloth and ashes.
Yet, the primary spiritual moment in this parsha is neither Avram's encounter with Pharaoh nor with Malchitzedek, but rather the Brit Bein HaBetarim, "The Covenant Between the Divisions." We'll discuss this powerful moment at greater length on Shabbat, but for now, suffice it to say simply that our Covenant transcends all divisions and binds us together in far greater unity than politics can ever divide us. Our spiritual destiny is defined neither by Pharaoh nor Malchitzedeck but by the ongoing process of Lech Lecha - continually seeking our authentic divine self and walking in the world "proclaiming the Name of Hashem."
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Shlomo
Classes This Week
NOTE: The Thursday evening class is paused until further notice.
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