Rabbi's Message

At the beginning of this week’s Torah portion,Vaera, Moses announces to the Israelites that God has appeared to him and that they will be redeemed by the mighty hand of  God and be brought to the land promised to their ancestors. Yet, after Moses’ impassioned speech, the Torah says “v’lo shamu el Moshe mikotzer ruah u’mei avodah kasha-- “They could not hear/listen to Moses on account of kotzer ruah and difficult labor.” 

Kotzer ruah is a unique phrase that literally means “shortness of spirit,” but it can also be translated as “shortness of breath” or “stunted breath.” Imagine: the Israelites were so anxious, so overworked, and so exhausted that their spirits were crushed, but perhaps, even more, their breathing was literally labored and stunted. Hope felt all too far away.

The Israelites’ constriction and inability to breathe and engage with the dream of a better world is an important warning for us, especially today. Over the past 475 days, since October 7, 2023, we have all felt this feeling of kotzer ruah, worried about our brothers and sisters in Israel, worried about Jews around the world, and especially worried about the hostages. This week has been no exception as we waited with bated breath last Sunday for the first three hostages to be released as part of the ceasefire deal. We collectively exhaled as we saw the faces of Emily Damari, Romi Gonen, and Doron Steinbrecher back in Israel and watched each one of them run into their mother's arms.  THEY ARE SAFE.  THEY ARE HOME.  And yet, our breath remains stunted as we continue to worry about the remaining hostages and the tenuous ceasefire.

Kotzer Ruah.  Some have felt an additional shortness of breath this week with the transition to the new administration here in the US.  The last few days have been filled with executive orders against transgender people and migrants, the pardoning of insurrectionists, Proud Boys, and bigots, and a few awkward Nazi gestures.  

Moments of deep exhale engulfed by moments of kotzer ruah. 

We must give the new administration time, but we also must remain vigilant.  As the Rabbinical Assembly published in a statement on Tuesday, “We always understand that each new day brings the potential for positive change. So our RA prays this new administration will overcome this divisiveness and mend the tears in the fabric of our society. But we also stand ready to raise our voice if its policies, actions, and rhetoric—like those we have already seen—fall short of those aspirations, damage ordinary lives, or conflict with the core values of Conservative/Masorti Judaism.” 

Torah can help guide us. Pharaoh wanted the Israelites to feel so overwhelmed, exhausted, and exacerbated that they could not hear or feel any sense of hope.   He temporarily succeeded. From parashat Vaera, we must learn that we cannot let those who rise up against us today succeed as well. There may be moments when we feel short of breath, but we cannot let it define us.  Rather, we must hold tight to hope and remain committed to using our God-given breath to bring justice, healing, and kindness to our world.  

Shabbat is our ultimate day for this.  It is our weekly reminder (and opportunity) to catch our breath, to refuse to remain in a state of kotzer ruah. And so, I hope you will join us at TBS this Shabbat for Men’s Club Shabbat and as we welcome our Scholar-In-Residence, Dr, Arnold Eisen, the Chancellor Emeritus of the Jewish Theological Seminary.  Join us for a wonderful weekend of learning, being in community, and simply exhaling, with each breath reminding ourselves to continue to advocate for our brothers and sisters in Israel, to hold tight to our values, and to lean into hope.

Shabbat Shalom.