Since October 7th, the Wornick community has been praying. We have prayed with our eyes, reading the words of the Siddur. We have prayed with our hearts as we comforted our community and privately pleaded for this senseless evil to be eradicated. We have prayed with our hands as we plant blue and white flowers, write letters to Israel, and make art. We have been praying with our fingers as we type letters advocating for Israel and against antisemitism in our communities. We have been praying with our feet as we march in protest against the brutality happening against our people in Israel. There are moments when I take a deep breath or see another parent, teacher, or student take a deep breath and I am sure that those breaths are prayers as well.
As I reflect on the collective prayers of our community members, many of which are detailed in this newsletter, I am in awe of the way we have come together to pray for peace, the return of hostages, and the quick victory against the evil forces of the world. At the same time, I can’t help but feel a sense of despair as the situation seems to be worsening rather than improving. The number of hostages reported is increasing. The war continues to expand. Public opinion about Israel does not seem to be improving.
This week’s Torah portion contains two models of engagement with and prayer towards G-d. On the one hand, the Binding of Isaac exemplifies pure faith and obedience. G-d instructs Abraham to sacrifice his first born son and Abraham complies with every directive until the final moment when G-d substitutes Isaac for a ram stuck in the nearby thorns. On the other hand, Sodom and Gomorrah exemplifies a completely different model of prayer, arguing and wrestling with G-d. In this case, G-d instructs Abraham that He plans to destroy the two cities for their evil deeds. Abraham does not accept the decree and begins negotiating with Him. “Will you cast away the innocent with the wicked?” and later, “What if twenty righteous people will be found? Will you still destroy the city?”
In this second story, we witness a different type of faith and prayer. One that is filled with anxiety, determination, investigation, and naivety. Indeed, we can never know the ways of G-d. Trying to understand why bad things happen in the world, especially to good and innocent people, is beyond our comprehension and futile. However, this is not the time to accept the first kind of faith as Abraham did during the Binding of Isaac. Rather, we must adopt the posture of Abraham during Sodom and Gomorrah. We must wrestle with G-d and advocate for the good of humanity over the evil of inhumanity.
These are times of profound uncertainty. These are times when we cannot understand how people could be so cruel to children and the elderly. These are times when we cannot understand how to speak the unspeakable to our children. These are times when we cannot understand how popular opinion can shift so rapidly and huge swaths of the world, including here in America, can be blind to the pain and suffering of Israel. Yet, we must keep praying as Abraham did with his words, heart, eyes, feet, and breath. There is profound evil in this world but we must not give up the willingness to keep trying, negotiating, advocating, marching, breathing, and singing.
Finally, we must do our utmost to continue giving generously to Israel and causes supporting Israel. We recommend giving to both Natal and the Jewish Community Federation’s special fund for Israel.
Adam Eilath, Head of School