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Dear TBD Family,

In addition to the superlative writing of Rebecca Abbate, who shares the privilege of contributing Shabbat-to-Shabbat messages with me, this page affords the opportunity for other members of our synagogue to write a weekly D’var Torah or reflection.  Elaine Shapiro, one of the chairs of Adult Education, contributes her piece this week.  I hope you’ll feel encouraged to grapple with her questions in your own way.

We hope to see everyone at Sisterhood led Shabbat services tonight, where we will also thank and celebrate our high school graduates!  The weather may be keeping us guessing, but spring consistently brings special milestones!

Shabbat Shalom,

A Life In Tune With God

In Acharei Mot-Kedoshim, this week’s Torah portion, God instructs the Israelites to live by God’s laws, not those of the Egyptians or the Canaanites.  I see this as an opportunity to ask ourselves if we are leading lives with morality and integrity at the center.  The Divine laws that stand out to me in this context are Love your neighbor as yourself, Be honest, and Welcome the stranger.  I am also reminded of Rabbi Hillel’s teaching in Pirkei Avot: “If I am not for myself, who is for me? And if I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?”

With antisemitism on the rise, it is natural to worry about our safety, and to advocate for ourselves.  But our federal government has a plan whose stated goal is protecting Jews, which in reality will do just  the opposite. This plan is called Project Esther and was written by the Heritage Foundation (authors of Project 2025).  By equating antisemitism with criticism of Israel, and ignoring white nationalist and neo-Nazi attacks on Jews, Project Esther is targeting anyone who does not support the Israeli government and/or anyone who speaks in favor of Palestinian rights.  Under the guise of fighting antisemitism, federal authorities, without due process, are arresting (with hopes of deporting) Palestinian rights activists and critics of Israel, and threatening to withhold federal funding from colleges and universities if they do not shut down free speech and alter their curriculum to favor the administration’s views of history and society.

By targeting Palestinian student activists first and (falsely) equating them with Hamas terrorists, the hope is to gain Jewish support.  We are particularly vulnerable right now, and it is natural to long for reassurance.  But the strategy of defining antisemitism as criticism of Israel has nothing to do with protecting Jews, and everything to do with dismantling democratic laws and institutions: civil rights, free speech, peaceful protest, truth, education, the rule of law, fair elections.  These institutions are in fact what protect Jews.  And one of Judaism’s long held beliefs is that our dignity and safety is bound up with that of all those who need it most.

Whatever you think about antisemitism, anti-Zionism, and criticism of Israel, the danger of Project Esther is the limiting of everyone’s constitutional rights of free speech, peaceful protest, and due process.  When the administration arrests/deports these activists and few speak up or try to stop them, what will stop them from going after citizens next? 

Circling back to living a life in tune with God, consider:  Is this welcoming the stranger?  Is this being only for ourselves? Is this loving our neighbor as ourselves? 

Shabbat Shalom,

Elaine Shapiro