In Pirkei Avot 1:2 we read: Al shlosha d’varim haolam omeid. Al haTorah, al ha’avodah, v’al gemilut chasadim. The world stands on three things. Upon Torah, and upon worship and and upon acts of loving kindness. This Mishnah, this passage, has become an overused trope. It is used in the mission statements of hundreds of synagogues across America, including our own. We sing it to a simplistic melody without thinking about the import of the words. The overuse of this trope has stripped its meaning of any depth.
What we never or rarely read is just a few mishnayot later in 1:18. Al shlosha d’varim haolam omeid. Al hadin, v’al ha’emet, v’al hashalom. The world stands on three things. Upon justice, and upon the truth and upon peace. This Mishnah, in America, has been forgotten just at the moment when we need it most.
The insurrection, the rebellion, the seditious, traitorous invasion of our Capitol, called for and supported by our political leaders, whom we allow to be there, they are our political leaders, weighs heavily on me, many of you, and as it should, on every American. Seeing these traitors who adorned their bodies and clothing with Nazi symbols, anti-Semitic and racist slogans, carrying the battle flag of the Confederacy, the ultimate symbol of treason against America, still tears at my soul. How could any of this have happened? Because, I have allowed, you have allowed, we all have allowed the pillars of justice, truth and peace to be shattered. It feels as if our world is tumbling out of control.
The time has arrived for us to rebuild and shore up these most important pillars.
Justice: We need to move beyond just doing gemilut chasadim, acts of lovingkindness and build a society that is just. A just society is built to ensure that all have equal opportunity, that wrongdoers are punished to the same standard across the board, and the good have the opportunity to benefit from what is good for all. We need to challenge ourselves to work toward that world, and to hold our leaders, formal and informal, to the same standard to which we would hold ourselves, if not higher.
Truth: Parsing what is true and what is fiction has become harder. We lie easily. We believe lies even more easily. When the surest truths of science are called lies, how much easier it is to discount and disbelieve historic and current truths. We need to find the truth by using that most ancient, and often annoying, Jewish practice, questioning. We question and when we find the truth based on fact, test it again, then hold on to it, promote it, cherish it.
Peace: How many times have you heard me define peace as inner wholeness. When we are whole within ourselves, we can be at peace with ourselves. When we are at peace with ourselves we can be at peace with others. But, as we are taught by Maslow, unless our basic needs are met, we cannot find peace within ourselves. To ensure peace in the world, we have the obligation to ensure every human being has their most basic needs met and has the opportunity to strive for more. In other words, we need to create a world held up by the other two pillars, justice and truth.
This week, our American peace, our inner individual peace sustained blows that threaten to shatter us. Tonight’s service is designed to help us begin to heal, to rebuild our inner peace. There are no slides tonight. Just one video of our children lighting candles. I want us to see each other as we pray. So please turn on your cameras. I want us to feel the connection with each other letting the words and melodies calm our souls so we can find that Shalom on this Shabbat. Why then have the one video? Simple, what is more healing than seeing our young people carrying on our most positive traditions.
I want us to find rest and peace this Shabbat, rebuilding our inner strength to be able to heal our country and our world, for there is no harder work than to establish justice, truth and peace.
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