If Only We Were Prophets
01/24/2025 01:56:27 PM
A lot has changed in the last week.
The first three hostages of the thirty-three set to be released in phase one of the negotiated deal between Hamas and Israel came home - alive. A soldier, whose body has been held by Gaza since 2014 came back to rest in Israel.*
Our government swore in a new administration as leaders of the United States of America.
We marked Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Elon Musk made a hand gesture that has been dissected, debated, and garnered massive attention.
Ohio State won the NCAA National Championship.
Tik Tok shut down for a moment (I hear it’s back).
And the list goes on and on.
I titled this piece: If Only We Were Prophets. At first, I thought I was going to write about how I wish I could look into the future and be able to tell you with abounding certainty, that everything will be okay.
But I don’t have to be a prophet to tell you that everything will be okay…and that it won’t.
We know that regardless of who is in charge of this country, we will face antisemitism from the Left and the Right. But we also know that we have built amazing partnerships with other faith communities who are going to help us when we need it.
We know that the fate of our hostages is beyond our control. But we also know that we will hold each other in the moments of joy and sorrow that will mark the days ahead.
Your Temple Emanu-El rabbis are not prophets, but we do lean on the prophetic tradition that calls us to “Do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with [our] God” (Micah 6:8). When things feel out of our control, this verse can ground us in how to move forward. We should move forward in search of justice: fighting for what we think is fair and right in our world. We should move forward remembering to love kindness: that even our unassuming deeds have an impact. And we should walk humbly with God: striving to recognize that We are but dust and ashes, and for us the world was created.
Shavua Tov,
Rabbi Rachael
* (More news will have been released about the fate of the four women set to be released on Saturday, January 25th, but these remarks will have already been submitted.)