Today is a day of celebration. But it wasn’t easy to get here.

I thought I knew what I was going to talk about. For the second week in a row, I threw out what I prepared and started over. And somehow the stories are linked but more on that later. And they are even linked with my own personal story—the recent death of my beloved thesis advisor, Rabbi Dr. Bernard M. Zlotowitz. So I offer these words in his memory, as students have honored their teachers for generations.

Let’s look at this morning’s parsha. The community was without water. That’s it. Miriam died. And the community was once again without water. That is all of what we are going to talk about today.

This is about the haves and the have nots. It is a story of scarcity. It is a story of fear. It is a story of still being enslaved. Maybe we should go back to Egypt. At least we had water. We are going to die here in the desert. If the Israelites were graded they would get an A in kvetching. In complaining.

This story is not old. It is new. Talk to any body in California lately? Water is a serious issue. And I urge you in the strongest possible terms to conserve.

But there is another message here. G-d provides the answer. There is enough water, if you know what to do. There is enough water if you trust G-d. G-d’s presence goes with them. G-d told Moses what to do. Strike the rock. Once. Only once.

But Moses does something else. He is afraid. He strikes the rock twice. Water gushes forth. Success! Or is it? For this he loses the privilege of entering the Promised Land.

Let’s think about us a little bit.

Sometimes we as a community, we whine. We complain. We kvetch. We are not a whole lot different than the Israelites. We don’t have enough water. Once I even got a phone call from someone no longer here. “They are stealing our water.” What are you talking about? I asked. The garden hose was hooked up and they are stealing our water. Watering their lawn. It looked like that on the surface. But no actually, we were watering our neighbors’ lawn on purpose. Repairing some damage we had done to their lawn.

Other complaints: We don’t have enough food—although I am sure we do today. We don’t have enough money. We don’t have enough time. We don’t have enough members. We remember the old days…we want to go back to the 1950s or the 60s or the 70s to when Rabbi Scharf was the rabbi or Hazzan Smolen or….

Sometimes we are afraid about doing it right. That Judaism doesn’t look like the Judaism that we remember. That Judaism is becoming something other.

I think what G-d is calling us to do in this portion is to dream bigger. To trust G-d. Instead of a theology of scarcity, what G-d wants is a theology of abundance. It isn’t always easy. What would we dream of?

More members, more money, more time. But what would we do with it?

Create more meaningful programming. Buy more books. Study more. Daven more. Host a retreat. Bring in a big name speaker. Have a scholar-in-residence. A cantorial concert. Give more money to more charities. Feed the hungry. Clothe the naked. House the homeless. Educate our kids.

It is not a whole lot different from Tevye who dreamed. “If I were a rich man I’d have the time that I lack to sit in the synagogue and pray and maybe have a seat by the eastern wall. And I’d discuss the holy books with the rabbis seven hours every day. That would be the sweetest thing of all.”

What if we build a culture of acceptance. Of excellence. Of abundance.

What if we are more like Field of Dreams. If we build it, they will come. If we believe it, it will happen. It is like Herzl who said, “IF you will it, it is no dream.” Or Walt Disney, who said, If you can dream it, you can do it.” But Walt was practical too and he said, “You can design and create and build the most beautiful place on earth, but it takes people to make a dream a reality.”

So today we dream of abundance. And that abundance takes many forms. It is sort of like Maslow’s pyramid. We need food, shelter, clothing, love, before we can ascend the other levels of the pyramid. We need security and an absence of fear. That is real abundance.

My favorite Psalm is Psalm 81. Now Rabbi Zlotowitz, it can be said he was an expert in Psalms. After all, here is this big thick book of Psalms to prove it.

Psalm 81 is the psalm for Thursday so we don’t usually do it on Shabbat Morning. It is actually written about this very story in our parsha this morning. And it begins with thanksgiving, although it doesn’t use any of those words like give thanks.

Sing with joy to God, our strength
Shout with gladness to the God of Jacob.

It continues that we should strike up a melody, sound the timbrel, play the harp and lyre, sound the shofar—we should make music. This is a happy song. A happy dance. And I feel like doing that happy dance this morning. That is actually very appropriate for today in this country. And for us as Jews in this country.

The reason to sing with joy and shout with gladness and make music is because we feel grateful. For what are we feeling grateful? For God, our strength, who rose against the land of Egypt. All of this is communal, in the command form, in the plural form. In a historical sense.

But the text continues—and it switches to the personal. The translation in Siddur Sim Shalom is more liberal than literal:

Then I heard a voice I never knew.
“I removed the burden from your shoulder
Your hands were freed from the load.
When you called in distress I rescued you
Unseen, I answered you in thunder
I tested your faith in the wilderness.”

Think for a moment about when you might have rescued just that way. I know I can.

The actual Hebrew is more specific as Rabbi Zlotowitz’s translation shows. It refers to the Exodus from Egypt—and removing the Israelites from the burden of slavery. The load was the actual basket of bricks that the Israelites carried in the building projects of Pharaoh. The wilderness is named in the Hebrew; it is waters of Meribah. Meribah itself means strife and is a reference in Exodus 17:7 and Numbers 20:13 the wilderness where the Israelites stayed after fleeing Egypt. That place we will read about shortly where they were complaining because there was no water!

There is another reference to removing a burden. In Exodus 33, with a very similar concept. When Moses is tired after the Golden Calf and does not want to go back up Mount Sinai to get another set of tablets. God reassures Moses of God’s presence saying, “I will go in the lead and lighten your burden.” Or as another translation says, I will give you rest. How wonderful. G-d will lead us and give us rest. We don’t always have to fight. This is one of those mornings. Some of the fight is over. For some it was a 40 year fight of being in the wilderness. Of not being secure in this country. Of being afraid of being visible as they are. I say all this not as a member of the LGBTQ community but as an ally. And I am an ally precisely because I am a Jew. Because it fits with my theology.

A theology of abundance. Starting at the very beginning. G-d created us in G-d’s image. We are all created b’tzelem elohim, in the image of G-d. We are all humans, yet look around you. We are all different. This congregation more than many as we embrace our diversity. We have members from 17 different countries. From China, Japan, Mongolia, From Argentina, Brazil, Chile, El Salvador, Mexico. From Canada. From France, Germany, Russia, Poland, Bosnia, Morocco. And yes, I count Norway and Israel too. We are white and black, Asian and Hispanic. We are a rainbow of diversity. We are a rainbow of abundance. Because this diversity is part of our richness.

The symbol of a rainbow is part of how I, the daughter of two Jewish scientists came to believe in G-d. That represents some diversity as well. The rainbow, however, is the perfect balance between rain and sun. Without that balance there can be no rainbow. Without the science, there can be no rainbow. Ever gone out to chase one? You usually can’t find one. It seems that you can only find one when you are not looking. When you are surprised by one. And they are the reminder of G-d’s covenant. That G-d will never destroy the world again, by flood. Again, it is about water. Having just the right amount of water. Mayyim Hayyim. Living water.

The word rainbow in Hebrew is keshet. There are two organizations that use that word as part of their names. Both to talk about inclusion. One is right here in Chicago and we at CKI partner with them. Keshet provides “a rainbow of hope for individuals with special needs.” Some of our members have used their services. Their educational professionals have come out to teach our teachers how to work with students of differing abilities.

The other organization is also called Keshet which works for the full equality and inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Jews in Jewish life.

As I stand before you in my rainbow tallit, perhaps you are still wondering. Really? This is a Jewish issue? Or you were raised to think that homosexuality is a sin in Judaism. This may be hard for you. Or perhaps you have been swayed by some of the politicians who keep saying that marriage is a sacrament and cannot be changed. It may feel that world is changing too fast. In Judaism, we recognize the diversity of opinion. This is worth a conversation. A real conversation. And I would be privileged to study the texts with you. Today, is a day for celebration. Not for prooftexts.

Let me be really clear. This ruling is not counterintuitive to Judaism. It is not against Judaism. What happened yesterday at the Supreme Court, is something that we as Jews can be thankful for. Today is a day for celebration. It is a watershed moment. A shehechianu moment for preserving us as Jews, and enabling us to reach this moment. For preserving and protecting us as a minority group. For protecting freedom of religion. For protecting love. For anyone.

I could stand here and recite all of the Jewish organizations that were part of the Amicus brief. There were 13 of the 25 in the brief. They included Reform, Reconstructionist, Conservative, Renewal. ADL, AJC, Hadassah. All saw the very deep connections of freedom, liberty, civil rights, human rights. And if you need the details, I have them. They are right here. You are welcome to come up and read them. They are eloquent and majestic. Poetic and even fun. It has been fun to talk to old friends who are finally legal in 50 states. It has been fun to watch the feeds on Facebook.

The Israelites wandered for 40 years always complaining, unsure of their next meal or where the water was coming from. They lived a life of scarcity. We, too, have lived a life of scarcity. But today, we know that there is abundant love.

Because these words of the court, echo our own tradition. Because they fit within this idea of a theology of abundance. Because it is part of the rainbow of our diversity. Because everyone is created b’tzelem elohim. Because there is enough love to go around. Today love won. Hallelujah. Sing a joyful song to the Lord.