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Im Tirzu, Ein Zo Agada, If you will it, it is no dream
Each chapter of the Miller Introduction to Judaism program has a name. It usually conveys a meaning beyond the topic at hand. Chapter Five isn’t just “Shabbat” it’s “A Cathedral in Time”, evoking the description that Abraham Joshua Heschel gives to our day of rest. Last night, our penultimate class just happened to be about Israel. The chapter was titled “A Great Dream”.
We started the class by discussing the difference between “Am Yisrael”, the people of Israel, “Eretz Yisrael”, the land of Israel, and “Medinat Yisrael”, the State of Israel. Three distinct categories which relate and overlap and are held by each person in different ways. During the class we studied two psalms and Israel’s Declaration of Independence.
This Monday night through Tuesday we observe Yom HaZikaron, Israel’s day of remembrance for fallen soldiers of Israel and victims of terrorism. Yom Hazikaron begins with a siren at 8:00 in the evening. As soon as the siren is heard, Israeli citizens stop whatever they’re doing, wherever they are, and stand firm to honor those they’ve lost. People driving on highways stop their cars in the middle of the road to get out and stand in remembrance. The country being as small and as young as it is, everyone knows someone who has died defending Israel or as a victim of terror. All of Am Yisrael mourns these souls who mean so much to the existence of Medinat Yisrael.
At the end of Yom HaZikaron, we transition to Yom Ha’atzmaut. This day of Independence is celebrated with such extreme joy around the world. Psalm 126, which you may know as the psalm we recite to begin Birkat Hamazon on Shabbat and holidays, says “When God restores the exiles of Zion, we will be like dreamers. Our mouths will fill with laughter and our tongues with joyful songs!” We are dreamers and we continue to dream of ways in which our home, our Medinat Yisrael land can thrive.
On Sunday, I will be traveling to Israel with a group of our congregants. Some will be visiting Eretz Yisrael for the first time. It will be fulfilling a dream that they have held for many, many years.
This week, as we recognize Israel, I invite us each to think about our relationship to Am Yisrael, Eretz Yisrael, and Medinat Yisrael. What are the relationships of these elements to each other? And what are the dreams you still hold for Israel? How can we continue to work to make those dreams a reality?
I look forward to sharing reflections about our trip upon our return!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Blatt
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