Shabbat Message for Wilshire Boulevard Temple
Every Wednesday and Sunday, I lead tefillah for the students at Brawerman East and Religious School. We always begin services the same way. After an opening song or two, we acknowledge the nissim b’chol yom, the daily miracles. Our prayer book includes a list of all of the miracles we thank God for working every day, and the formula for how to do it. The blessings we acknowledge include giving strength to the weary, freeing the captive, and our creation in the image of God.
With our students, we often do it a little differently. We start with the blessing formula - Baruch Atah, Adonai Eloheinu, Melech HaOlam…but then we invite them to share the things that they are grateful for on that given morning. We join together after each one with the word “Amen.” Sometimes the things our students share stop me in my tracks with their depth and sophistication. There is a certain holiness in the earnest answer from a kindergarten child when he says “for my whole family and school that love me,” or from a third grader when she says “I’m grateful I got to wake up and see the sun today!” Even the (maybe not so) silly responses about the new video game or Lebron James’ dominance of the league are wonderful to me. Every time someone brings even an ounce of real joy and goodness into our lives is a miracle and a blessing.
Our Torah portion this week, Ki Tavo, is weighty with discussions of blessings as rewards for following God’s commandments, and curses that will allegedly befall the Israelites if they disobey. Although the blessings promised are fantastic and motivating, the Torah gives us an even longer list of curses that are even more horrible than the blessings are good. These days, as individuals, as Americans, and as Jews, we might sometimes feel that we are living through that long list of curses. I know often that’s what it feels like to me.
After that long list of curses in this week’s parsha, Moses reminds the Israelites about their journey, and about the wonders and miracles that they saw with their own eyes along the way.
This is why I am so grateful to be able to work with the youth of our community. They remind me every week to pay attention to the abundance of blessings in the world. Our students are wise beyond their years; they know that there are curses out there in the world, but they allow themselves to focus on the blessings. Their eyes are the ones with which we must try to see our lives!
Every Wednesday and Sunday, I think our students teach us what Moses taught. Let us hear Moses, and let us hear our children. We too have traveled and remain on the winding journey of life, and we too have seen wonders and miracles.
When I listen to these students I remember my own miraculous blessings: that I get to love and be loved by my wife, Meg, that we get to take care of and play with our adorable dog, Manischewitz, and that I get to immerse myself deeply in Judaism and Jewish tradition as I embark on my final year of study to become a Rabbi. Each of these are daily blessings for which I am eternally grateful.
As Rosh Hashanah approaches ever closer, may we remember the lesson that Moses and our students teach us, so that in this new year we will see many, many more. May this be a Shabbat of blessing, and may the new year be one filled with small miracles (and maybe some big ones too!).
Shabbat Shalom,
Jeff Silverstein - Rabbinic Intern
