Table Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld
October 20-21, 2023 • 6 Mar Cheshvan 5784 • Noach (Gen 6-11).
The purpose of this email is to let in a ray of hope at the Shabbat table... please forward/print/share
There are a couple sides to this modern story of Biblical proportions.
On one hand, we've seen this movie before:
- Massacres
- Blood libels
- Synagogue burnings
- Massacres
- Blood libels
- Synagogue burnings
- Sadness and fear
Check out the Wikipedia Article, "Timeline of Antisemitism."
I downloaded the article and deleted many pages of endnotes.
It's still a whopping 110 pages.
I then went through those 110 pages and highlighted only the massacres. I lost count after about 70.
Most of those occur prior to 1945.
In other words, at first glance, the past 70 years seem to have broken a 2,000-year-old pattern.
Check out the Wikipedia Article, "Timeline of Antisemitism."
I downloaded the article and deleted many pages of endnotes.
It's still a whopping 110 pages.
I then went through those 110 pages and highlighted only the massacres. I lost count after about 70.
Most of those occur prior to 1945.
In other words, at first glance, the past 70 years seem to have broken a 2,000-year-old pattern.
But that's false.
The incidents have continued unabated. They've just been a bit less violent lately. So we've been lulled into a comfortable slumber.
That's the one hand.
On the other hand, we've rarely seen this movie:
- Jewish unity
- Shared purpose and meaning
- Commitment and grit
The last time we saw this kind of unity was exactly 50 years ago.
Would that we could capture that sense of brotherhood and sisterhood and put it in a bottle.
Question for your table: What happens after this common enemy is no more? Does the unity evaporate, or will there be another way to unite us?
Some say it could come through sharing some Torah, others say we should lock in the unity by sharing Shabbat. Everyone seems to agree that we can at least share acts of kindness.
What do you say?
Wishing you, yours, and all of Israel, a Shabbat Shalom,
Alexander Seinfeld
The incidents have continued unabated. They've just been a bit less violent lately. So we've been lulled into a comfortable slumber.
That's the one hand.
On the other hand, we've rarely seen this movie:
- Jewish unity
- Shared purpose and meaning
- Commitment and grit
The last time we saw this kind of unity was exactly 50 years ago.
Would that we could capture that sense of brotherhood and sisterhood and put it in a bottle.
Question for your table: What happens after this common enemy is no more? Does the unity evaporate, or will there be another way to unite us?
Some say it could come through sharing some Torah, others say we should lock in the unity by sharing Shabbat. Everyone seems to agree that we can at least share acts of kindness.
What do you say?
Wishing you, yours, and all of Israel, a Shabbat Shalom,
Alexander Seinfeld
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